Tutoring a Holt
by Volcanic Lily
Summary: "Fine, I'll tutor you.  But you'd better listen and listen good, because the sooner you learn this, the sooner I don't have to hang out with you anymore."  Sinead is annoyed to be tutoring Hamilton, but they soon run into other complications.  Ham/Sinead.
1. Welcome to Milwaukee

**A/N: Here's my first try at a Hamilton/Sinead story. It's going to be a multi-chapter. Hope you enjoy!**

Mary-Anne Carlisle had to be the single _nosiest_ person Sinead Starling had ever met.

First, there was, "Hi, what's your name?" Quickly followed by, "Where did you move here from?" And then, "Why did you have to move?" Succeeded by, "Surgeries? What's wrong with your brothers?" and finally, "Oh, that's too bad. Well, do you like it here so far, Sinead?"

That was only within a minute or so of meeting the girl, and Sinead was already a bit annoyed with her. But Mary-Anne knew her way around the school and offered to give her a quick tour. She accepted, and the girl showed her how to find the library, the cafeteria, and the principal's office ("Not that you'll have to go there, I hope," she remarked. "You don't get in trouble much, do you, Sinead?")

"And this is Milwaukee High's gym," Mary-Anne said. "Don't you think it's huge?"

Sinead was too busy looking around to nod. The gymnasium at her new school was full of activity. In one corner, six or seven girls were hitting a volleyball around, and games of foursquare and badminton were going on side by side. In the center of the gym, a swarm of boys were playing basketball, and some students were setting up a soccer goal near the spot where Mary-Anne and Sinead stood.

Sinead was watching one of the kids bouncing a soccer ball on his knee and barely heard Mary-Anne's cry of, "Sinead, look out!"

Before the words had time to register in her mind, someone slammed into her from behind, knocking her to the ground and falling right on top of her. A basketball nearly hit Sinead's head as it bounced across the gym floor, with several boys chasing after it.

"Sorry," the boy who had collided with her said in a quiet yet familiar voice.

As the two disentangled themselves, Mary-Anne stood over them, one hand on her hip as she snapped, "Watch it! Are you trying to kill our new student, Holt?"

Sinead, who had just gotten to her feet, froze. "Holt?" she echoed.

The boy turned to look at her. Yep, it _was_ Hamilton Holt. He looked just as she remembered him, even down to the spiked blonde hair.

"Sinead," Hamilton said in surprise. "I sure didn't expect to see you here."

"Well, I didn't expect to come here, either. You see, my brothers had to come here so they could…"

The loud ringing of a bell cut off Sinead's explanation. Mary-Anne grabbed her by the arm and began tugging her away. "Come on. That was the five minute warning bell. You don't want to be late, do you?"

Sinead looked back and shrugged helplessly at Hamilton. "Um, talk to you later?"

He waved. "See you."

And once Sinead had been pulled out of the gym, Mary-Anne fired another barrage of questions at her, beginning with, "How do you know Hamilton Holt?"

By the time fifth period rolled around, Sinead was thoroughly sigh of Mary-Anne Carlisle. But again, she knew her way around, whereas Sinead didn't. So she let the girl escort her to her honors math class (which Mary-Anne had so kindly offered to do before going on to her own debate class).

"Ah, you must be our new student, Sinead Starling," the teacher, a fat, half-bald man with a mustache, said, looking up from his seating chart at her. "Here, Miss Starling, your seat is in the back of the class and to the far right, behind Peter Patterson and next to Tiffani Perkins."

As Sinead made her way to the only empty seat in the room- behind a dark-haired, thin boy and beside a girl with bleached blonde hair with too-dark makeup- she spotted, for the second time that day, a very familiar face. Sitting in front of the girl called Tiffani was Hamilton, turned around in his seat to talk to the Peter boy. When he saw Sinead, he quickly ended that conversation.

"Hey, you're in this class now?"

Sinead scoffed. "Well, _yeah_. It is an _honors_ class…. Which brings me to a question of my own: what are _you_ doing in such a hard class, Holt?"

Hamilton made a face. "I've got to take at least one honors class to stay on the football team. I think it's stupid."

"All right, class," the stocky math teacher said, standing up from his rolling chair. "Take out last night's homework, please."

Hamilton was one of the several students who groaned and fished out unfinished papers from their binders. "I hate this class," he muttered, mostly to himself. "Who actually cares what 'X' equals?"

Sinead rolled her eyes, peering over at Tiffani Perkins' homework paper. Was _this_ what Hamilton was complaining about? This was easy work!

When math class was over for the day, the teacher, Mr. Katswell, called Hamilton up to his desk. Sinead pretended to take an extra-long time packing up her things in order to eavesdrop.

"This is the fourth test you've failed in a row!" Mr. Katswell exclaimed, holding up a paper full of red pen marks. "If this keeps up, Mr. Holt, you're going to fail my class, and you won't be able to play on the football team anymore."

Hamilton's face fell. "I don't get it," he said. "No matter how much you explain it, I just don't get it!"

"What don't you get?" muttered Sinead, annoyed at stupidity that was so characteristic of an idiotic Tomas. "It's so simple!"

Both Hamilton and Mr. Katswell turned to look at her. Sinead paled; apparently, she had said that more loudly than she had meant to.

The math teacher cleared his throat. "Well, if it is so easy for you, Miss Starling, why don't _you_ try to tutor Mr. Holt?"

"But…!" Sinead and Hamilton both began in horror.

Mr. Katswell gave them both a look that said, "I mean it." Knowing not to argue, the two Cahills left the classroom.

"This stinks," grumbled Hamilton.

"You're telling me," Sinead said. "_I'm_ the one who's having to tutor an idiot mouth breather like you!"

"Well, _I'm_ the one stuck being tutored by an annoying, stuck-up snob like _you_!" he shot back.

Without another word, Sinead tossed her auburn hair, pivoted around, and stormed away, thinking, _What a loser! I hope he honestly doesn't think I'd be caught dead tutoring him!_

Unfortunately, Sinead had no real choice when it came to tutoring Hamilton, because he rode her bus and decided to follow her home. As she got off the bus in front of her new house- thinking about how she was going to call the hospital and ask Ned and Ted how many more days they thought the doctors would keep them there before they could come back home- Hamilton exited the bus with her.

She whirled around to stare him down. "Why are you stalking me?"

Hamilton glared back. "Trust me, I wouldn't stalk _you_ if you paid me! I just can't afford to fail math, and Mr. Katswell said you had to tutor me."

_Ugh, why did I have to open my big, fat mouth?_ Sinead heaved a sigh of exasperation. "Fine, I'll tutor you. But you'd better listen and listen good, because the sooner you learn this, the sooner I don't have to hang out with you anymore. And I don't want to hang out with you, because it'll be bad for my reputation."

"How could hanging out with the school's best football player be bad for…?" he began.

"Oh, don't start with me. Just get your butt inside before anyone I know sees us."

"I'd rather be playing Halo," complained Hamilton approximately five minutes after Sinead had first cracked open the math book.

"And _I'd_ rather be doing anything else but tutoring you," she shot back, "But I am, so let's just get this over with. Now, 'X' is really just a letter that represents the number that you're trying to find. For example…"

"Sinead, hey! Wait up!"

Sinead stopped where she stood in the middle of the hallway and waited for Mary-Anne to catch up to her, muffling a groan. Seriously, it was only 7:39 in the morning, and that busybody was already coming over to pester her again. Nevertheless, in the spirit of politeness, she offered a half-hearted, "Hey. What's up?"

"_OMG_, Sinead! Why didn't you _tell_ me you were dating Hamilton Holt?"

Sinead froze. "_What_?"

"Well, I was talking to Tiffani Perkins while I was walking home yesterday, and she said that you two kept looking over at each other and that you volunteered to tutor him in math. And then, like, not more than two seconds later, we see the two of you getting off the bus and going into your house!" Mary-Anne finally had to stop for breath, giving Sinead a chance to reply.

"We are _not_ dating, Mary-Anne! Mr. Katswell is _forcing_ me to tutor that lost cause!"

"Oh? 'Cause that's not what I hear," Mary-Anne said with a wink.

Sinead reddened, both from anger and the total humiliation. "That… That's so stupid! And FYI, there's no way on _Earth_ I would ever date him!"

"Uh-huh. Sure. Well, I'll leave you alone now so you can go hang out with your boyfriend now, Sinead. Catch you later!" And she was off.

Sinead looked daggers at Mary-Anne Carlisle's retreating form. _That's it! I don't care _what_ Mr. Katswell says- I'm not wasting another second of my life tutoring Hamilton Holt! I'm throwing in the towel! I'm going to give up! This is just going to do too much damage to my reputation, having people thing I'm dating that meathead! I won't do it!_

And she flounced away to break the news to Hamilton.

Hamilton was having a bad day.

No, that was an understatement. As much as he hated to quote an old children's book he'd been read in, like, kindergarten or something, he was having a "terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day."

As soon as he had gotten to school, his football coach had found him, taken him off to the side, and told him, "Listen, Holt, I hear you're failing math. Now, you know you'll get kicked off the team if you fail that class, right?"

Hamilton nodded mutely.

"All right, then. So you're gonna pull that grade up, right?"

"Right, coach," he said, but his voice cracked a bit at the end. He didn't _want_ to get kicked off the football team, but right now, his chances of passing an honors math class were at about zero. Even after Sinead had spent over an hour trying (rather impatiently) to explain things to him, he was still confused about math. There was no way he could ever pass that class….

_No, I can't say that_, he told himself. _A Holt never gives up!_

Just then, he ran into Sinead- thankfully, not literally this time. She looked furious.

"Holt," she said, "I'm not trying to bail out on you or anything, but I won't be able to tutor you anymore."

"What?" Hamilton exclaimed. "Why not? Mr. Katswell said…"

Sinead looked stubborn. "I don't _care_ what he says, I won't do it! Mary-Anne Carlisle already saw the two of us getting off the bus yesterday, and soon, it's going to be, like, all over the school! Just _imagine_ what that's going to do to my image! I can't tutor you anymore."

"But…!" he began.

She cut him off. "I'm sorry, Hamilton, but I just can't do it. I can't have people thinking things like that!"

"But Sinead…" Hamilton took a long, deep breath. "Coach Anderson told me a couple minutes ago that if I can't pull my grades up, I'm gonna get kicked off the team. And I _have_ to stay on the team!"

Sinead was tempted, just for a moment, to give in. Hamilton looked so depressed and hopeless that she almost wanted to help him, no matter how people would talk. But she reminded herself that she could _not_ handle that blow to her reputation, whatever sad look he might be giving her.

"Not going to happen, Holt."

Hamilton paused. "Is this about the library explosion?"

Sinead paused, her breath catching in her throat as her fingers unconsciously trailed their way up her faintly scarred arms. There it was again, replaying in her mind- the explosion, her unheard screams.

When she returned to Earth, Hamilton was staring at her in concern. "You okay?"

She nodded uncertainly. "I'm fine…. And no, it's not about that. I just can't deal with the rumors."

"Please?"

That was all he said. Just one word. But that one word, a word that sounded unfamiliar, almost foreign, coming out of a Holt's mouth, caused Sinead to waver and, finally, to surrender.

"Ugh, fine. I'll do it. Just… You'd better learn fast, got that?"

Hamilton nodded. "I'll try to."

And that was how Sinead Starling began tutoring a Holt.

**A/N: I hope you liked this so far! Reviews and CC would be welcome!**

**Peace out, suckas!**

**~Lily**


	2. Making This Work

**A/N: He, everybody! So, SO sorry for taking so incredibly long to update. I'm a jerk, okay? (Actually, I've had school crap- by the way, I agree with Hamilton in that math is evil- but no excuses. I'm a big, fat jerk.) But here, I've finally finished the next chapter, so here you go. Hopefully, it's good enough to make up for my awful procrastination.**

**By the way, in case you haven't figured it out by now, I do not own the 39 Clues, Hamilton, Sinead, or anything else related to that. Although I wish I owned Dan. He'd be like another little brother! (But I'd probably scare him, poor Dan.)**

**Anyway, ENJOY! :)**

Hamilton's sisters had to be the two _nosiest_ people in the entire universe.

And that was barely an exaggeration. (All right, so that Mary-Anne girl from school was worse, but besides her… they were definitely the nosiest. At least, they were today.)

The _second_ Hamilton walked through the front door, he was ambushed by Madison and Reagan, who were pushing and showing and elbowing each other in the effort to get to him first. In the end, they reached him at the same time.

"Hey, Ham!" they chorused. Their heads whipped around to face each other. "Jinx! You owe me a soda!… No, _you_ owe _me_ a soda!… No, you!… You!… No, you!"

Suddenly, they remembered: they had been about to question their brother.

"So," said Reagan, "Why have you been getting home so late the last two days?"

"Got a secret girlfriend or something?" added Madison with a mischievous grin.

Hamilton shook his head. "No! No way!"

The twins looked at each other, then back at their brother. "Then what's going on?… Jinx!"

"Nothing," he muttered.

"You sure?" asked Madison.

"Yeah."

"Positive?" Reagan put in.

"Yeah."

"Sure you're posi…?" they began.

Hamilton glared at them. "I told you, nothing's going on! Now, I've gotta go do my homework!"

And he stormed away up the stairs to his bedroom, leaving Reagan and Madison to look at each other curiously.

Hamilton slammed and locked the door to his room, then took his math book out of his backpack and opened it up.

"Okay," he told himself. "I've got to get this. I've got to stay on the team. And I've got to prove to Sinead that I'm not an idiot." He cracked his knuckles and peered down at the book. "I'm gonna get this."

"Ugh, remind me never to become a teacher. I think I'd totally lose it."

Sinead pored over the enormous math book and heaved a long, deep sigh. The numbers and letters swam before her tired eyes- it seemed she had been staring at them for ages now.

"Hamilton Holt had better be grateful," she scowled. "I'm doing him a huge favor, spending my valuable time trying to help him!"

It was at that moment that her brothers, Ned and Ted, entered her room. (Although geniuses, if there was one concept that they never seemed to grasp, it was the concept of _knocking_.)

"What's this about Hamilton Holt?" asked Ned.

Sinead looked up from the book. "Oh, nothing. It's just my stupid new math teacher, Mr. Katswell. He's making me tutor that dumb bundle of muscle so he can pass math and stay on the football team."

"Oh," Ned said with a nod.

"You sound pretty stressed," added Ted. "Are you all right?"

Sinead scoffed. "Oh, _of course_ I'm fine!" she snapped. "I absolutely _love_ teaching that wonderful Hamilton! He's such a quick learner, what every teacher dreams of! And the fact that everyone at school's going to be under the impression that we're dating just makes it all _so_ much _better_!"

Her brothers paused, unsure of what to say. "Sorry" probably wouldn't cut it, and encouragement might just make her angrier. So in the end, they just stayed silent.

"Don't you two have anything to say?" she glowered. "Never mind. Just get out of my room so I can think up tomorrow's lesson plan!"

Ted and Ned almost tripped over each other in their hurry to get out of the room. They loved their sister and all, but when she was in one of her moods… It was better to just stay out of her way.

Sinead sighed again and slumped down in front of the math book.

_Now, let's see, maybe if I explain it to him this way…_

She groaned. "Oh, who am I kidding? He's still not going to get it. It's been two whole days, and he still hasn't improved at all! He's never going to get it! _Why_ did I agree to this?"

Sinead sat down in her seat in Mr. Katswell's fifth period math class, dropped her books down on the desk, flipped her auburn hair, and scowled up at the board.

_I can't believe I'm thinking this, but I am really starting to hate math_.

It was then that Hamilton entered the classroom, taking his seat near to hers. Sinead observed that he looked tired, with faint circles under his eyes as if he had stayed up late the previous night. His hair was a mess, as if he hadn't taken the time to fix it at all that morning, and his eyes were dull as he looked at her questioningly and asked…

"Why are you staring at me?"

The color rose to Sinead's cheeks. _Was I really staring at him? Great, now _he_'s going to get the wrong idea._

"I wasn't staring at you," she said scornfully. "I was just thinking…. About math."

"Math," Hamilton repeated. He spoke the word as if it were the name of some dreaded, incurable disease.

Tiffani Perkins, the fake blonde sitting next to Sinead, turned towards them. "OMG, I heard from Mary-Anne that you two are going out!"

"What?" Hamilton gawked.

Sinead groaned. _Oh, no, not this again…_

"Yeah," Tiffani continued. "She said you two've been, like, hanging out after school the last couple days. Anyway, I just wanted to tell you you're totally cute together!"

She turned back around, oblivious to the reddening of the non-couple's faces. Hamilton and Sinead were silent for nearly a minute. At last, the latter spoke.

"See? I told you they were talking about us."

Hamilton nodded. "How should we prove them wrong?"

"Mary-Anne believes what she wants to believe. Trust me, I've learned that already," Sinead said. "I guess we might as well just keep doing what we're doing."

"All right, class," Mr. Katswell droned from the front of the room. "Let's pick up on page 269.…"

Sinead looked back at her book and flipped to the correct page.

_Yep. I really am starting to hate math._

Sinead sat down across from Hamilton at her dining room table and cracked open the math book.

"So, I guess you understood today's lesson pretty well."

Hamilton cocked his head. "Huh?"

"Well, you didn't ask any questions," she said, "So I figured you understood it."

"So now, I'm supposed to ask questions?" he said. "Nuh-uh. No. That'll only make Mr. Katswell pay even more attention to me. He'll call me out in front of everybody and make we work problems on the board until I've got it- and trust me, I _won't_ get it."

Sinead raised her eyebrows. "Well, you're definitely not going to get it if you've already convinced yourself that you can't because you're an idiot."

"Hey," he said, "I never said I was an idiot."

"Oh. Whoops, that was me."

"Well, you're really encouraging."

"I know."

Hamilton frowned at her. "Come on, let's just get to studying already. I want to get it over with."

"Fine. Then we'll just 'get it over with.'" Sinead said, "But don't expect to learn anything with that attitude."

"You're saying _I_ have an attitude? Have you looked in a mirror lately?"

"Yes, I have! But I can tell _you_ haven't- your hair's a mess!"

Hamilton ran a hand through his blonde hair, attempting to smooth it down. "Well, excuse me, _princess_! We can't all be as perfect as you think you are!"

"Excuse me?"

"Why don't you get the log out of your own eye before you start trying to get the speck out of somebody else's? Before you point out stupid stuff about me, you should work on not being such a stuck-up jerk!"

Sinead stared at him for a moment, inwardly seething. Finally, she spoke. "Get out of my house, Holt. _Now_."

"Fine," said Hamilton, and he did.

Sinead sighed, shaking her head. _He is such a creep! How dare he…? Oh, why did I say that? I should have just ignored it and gone on, but no, I had to blow up on him. Now, I _do_ feel like a jerk…._

The two arrived in Mr. Katswell's classroom at about the same time the next morning. Hardly looking at each other, they sat down in their seats and took out their books.

"Hamilton," she greeted spitefully.

"Sinead," he said in the same tone.

No more words were lost between the two, and class began. Mr. Katswell started on a new lesson about inequalities and was soon working example problems on the whiteboard.

Hamilton stared up at the second problem in confusion. Slowly, he raised his hand.

The teacher looked at his, a bit surprised. "Yes, Mr. Holt?"

"Um," he began hesitantly, "Why did the 'greater than' sign flip?"

Mr. Katswell gestured at the problem he had worked. "Well, you see, we had to divide both sides by negative three, and when you divide by a negative number, the inequality sign flips…."

As he continued on with his explanation, Sinead caught Hamilton's attention. She was looking over at him, a slight smile playing across her face.

_He actually listened to my advice about asking questions_, she thought. _Hmmm, maybe we could make this work…._

And Hamilton smiled back.

**A/N: Okay, hopefully you all liked this, but if there's something you think is wrong with it, feel free to tell me. I accept CONSTRUCTIVE criticism. (Of course, if you honestly think it's great, feel free to tell me that, too... Oh, and you can also tell me if you know where I can buy some red snapper to send to Saladin! Mrrrp! XD)**

**Th-th-th-th-that's all for now, folks!**

**~Lily**


	3. At Football Practice

**Author's Note: I know, I know, I'm a terrible person, taking forever to update this story! Shame, shame on Lily. Shame!**

**But anyway, I DID make a new chapter, and I'm posting it right now, so please, find it in your oh-so-forgiving hearts to forgive me!... Or at least review! XD**

Hamilton Holt had to be the single most _idiotic_ person Sinead had ever met.

Or at least, that had been her first impression of him. But now, bit by grudging bit, this impression of him was being changed. She wasn't so sure how she should feel about this development.

He had started asking questions about whatever he didn't understand in math class, and because of this, he was slowly (but, she supposed, surely) beginning to improve in his understanding of math.

And Hamilton genuinely seemed to want to learn- even if she knew it was probably just to stay on the football team. Football: now _there_ was a concept that the Ekat teen genius had trouble wrapping her mind around. Not that she would ever admit it willingly.

Now was their twelfth day of after-school studying. As usual, they sat across from each other at the dining room table, and Hamilton was working problems that Sinead had written out for him.

"And 'X' equals… six!" he exclaimed with a triumphant grin. He looked to her. "Is that right? Six?"

Sinead took a moment to glance over the problem. "Yeah. That's right."

His grin, if that was even possible, expanded to cover nearly his entire face. "_Yes_!" he cheered.

"You've gotten a lot better," she said, then hesitated. "Um, good job."

"Thanks. But do you think we can cut this a little short today? I've got practice."

"Football," Sinead frowned, "Isn't more important than studying. You're forgetting that if you don't make a passing grade in math class, there will _be_ no more football for you."

"There won't be if I don't go to practices, either," Hamilton said. "But hey, you can come with me. We could get in a bit more math in the car while Trav is driving me over."

She blinked. "Uh… Okay."

And that was why, at this very moment, Sinead was sitting on the hard metal bleachers beside the enormous green football field, watching musclebound teenage guys in heavy padding tackle each other over an oblong brown ball.

_Football- the dumbest game on the planet._

And on the other side of the field were the cheerleaders, just finishing their own practice. Sinead scowled. She had just missed cheerleading tryouts. If she hadn't, she would have been the best one on the squad, no doubts about it.

Now, the cheerleaders were fixing their hair and drooling over the football players, shouting cheers of encouragement. Many of these cheers were for Hamilton himself. This annoyed Sinead.

_Just because it'll give him a big head_, she thought, crossing her arms. _Then, he'll practice even _more_ on football to get even _more_ stupid girls to fawn over him, and that will leave him less time to study._

She slumped down on the bleachers, skimming through the math book in her lap. She was already planning for the next day's tutoring session. Lessons were going along a lot more smoothly now that Hamilton was actually trying.

She didn't notice the platinum blonde in the cheerleading uniform until the girl was already right behind her. "Hey, you. Nerd girl."

Sinead looked up, adopting an air of pride. "Excuse me?"

"I saw you coming to practice, like, all buddy-buddy with Ham Holt," said the blonde. "What's that all about?"

She opened her mouth to explain, then closed it again. She set her math book down on the bleachers and stood up, putting her hands on her hips. "What's it to you?"

"I heard you're, what, his girlfriend or something?" The fake blonde stuck out her lower lip and said, "I totally can't believe a hunky football player would go out with _you_."

"We're not… Hey, what is that supposed to mean?" Sinead demanded.

The cheerleader explained smugly, "He's a star football player. You're a brainiac, nerd girl. Since you're so smart, you do the math."

Sinead glared at her. "So, you're saying that just because I'm smart, you automatically assume I'm a loser?" She flipped her auburn hair in annoyance. _I'm _way_ prettier than her! _And_ I could outsmart her in my sleep._

The blonde edged closer to Sinead, a menacing expression on her face. "Look, all I'm saying is, you stay away from my guy, okay? Or you're going to get it."

Sinead scoffed. "I'd like to see you try."

"I can totally ruin you, you know," she threatened. "I can tell all sort of stories about you, and then, like, nobody will want to hang out with you."

"You don't know anything about me," said the girl genius. "You don't have any blackmail on me."

"Who says I need it? I can make up all sorts of stuff."

"And who would believe it?"

"Everyone," the blonde said. "After all, I'm the head cheerleader. And who are you? The new girl from out of town. Who knows what kind of past you have, that would totally kill your social life if I told everybody?"

Sinead fell silent. A cool breeze swept over her, sending an unwitting shudder down her spine.

As much as she wanted to slap this stupid cheerleader upside the head (if only she had the strength of a Tomas right now), her threat of social ruination did cause her to falter. She and her brothers were going to be here for an indefinite amount of time, and while she was here, Sinead wanted to be popular.

Possibly even more than she wanted to take up for herself and beat the snot out of this little snot.

Much to her relief, before she was forced to come to any sort of decision, a long shadow fell over her. "Leave her alone, Kenzie," said a male voice from behind.

The blonde cheerleader- Kenzie, apparently- gasped. Her heavily made-up eyes grew wide with shock.

Sinead turned around with a smirk, already fairly certain of the speaker's identity. Indeed, it was Hamilton- a sweat-drenched, grass-stained, flushed-faced Hamilton, but a gratefully received Hamilton all the same.

"Hamilton!" Kenzie exclaimed. Her lids narrowed. "Like, why are you taking up for _her_, Ham? She's a loser."

"She's not a loser," replied Hamilton in a quiet, yet stern voice. "She's my friend."

Sinead was sure that her own face now relayed her surprise. _"Friend?"_ she thought. _Hold on a second, since when are the two of us "friends?"_

However, she didn't complain or question. She was too busy watching Kenzie squirm.

"But… But Hamilton, I… She's a… And you're… And you and me, we'd be…" She scowled and huffed, "Whatever! I'm so out of here! Have fun with your friends while you still have them, nerd girl." Suddenly, she smiled an overly sunny smile. "Tata, Hammy!" And she strode out of sight.

Hamilton crossed his arms, walking over to stand beside Sinead. "So, I take it you've met Kenzie Radcliffe, then?"

"She was very charming," she replied with blatant sarcasm.

"Isn't she, though?" said Hamilton.

She paused. "Um, so… about what you told her just then? You said we were… friends."

Sinead couldn't tell if he blushed or if it was merely the fact that his face was still pink-tinged from his strenuous practice.

"I, um…" He stopped for a moment, as if weighing his words in his mind. It had to be the first time that a dimwitted Tomas ever thought before saying anything.

"Yeah. I did. I mean, we're not enemies, right? So I guess we're, well, sort of friends."

She shrugged, picking up her math book from the bleachers. "I guess you could say that."

"And besides," Hamilton added, "It got her to leave you alone, didn't it?"

"Right." Sinead was now the one to hesitate. "Er, thank you for standing up for me. It was… nice of you."

He shrugged his broad shoulders. "Don't mention it. Besides… I do owe you bigtime, remember?"

She absently traced the scars on her arms, still feeling oddly warmed by his single act. "Yeah." Quickly, she snapped out of her trance and gave him a haughty stare. "Yeah, you still owe me- a lot. And don't think just doing that one nice thing makes up for it, either."

"I know. So… do you like ice cream?"

"What?" said Sinead, bewildered.

Hamilton looked down at her. "I'm asking you if you want me to buy you some ice cream. Since you say I still owe you and all."

"Oh." She tried to stifle any emotion that may have registered on her face. "I… Yes, that would be all right."

"Cool." Hamilton flagged down one of his football friends. "Yo, Trav! Could you drive us to the ice cream place?"

"Sure thing!" the boy called Trav called back.

"Thanks!" He turned back to her. "Okay, come on. You like chocolate?"

"Pistachio is better."

"Okay, you can get pi… Whatever you said."

"Pistachio, you moron. Sheesh, you're such a mouth breather."

As Sinead followed Hamilton over to Trav's parked sports car, she rolled her eyes.

_Oh, well. The rumor mill's already running, anyway…._

**Author's Note: So? What'd you think? Review and tell me, _por favor_! :) (And by the way, who all has read Vesper's Rising? I got it the day it came out, and it was awesome! *Except for Evan Tolliver- NOT so awesome.* Did you all think so, too?)**

**~Lily**


	4. False Accusations

**Author's Note: Oh, my goodness, I am SO sorry for taking so incredibly long to update. I meant to write this chapter and post it at the start of the summer, but then, there was so much real-life drama and... well, anyway, I've written a new chapter now, so here it is! Hope you like it! :D**

Tuesday had to be the single most _terrible_ day of Sinead Starling's entire life. (Well, the second worst- the first was definitely the Franklin Institute- but that was beside the point.)

It didn't start out that way. It started out fabulously. She was having a great hair day, Hamilton had continued gradually improving during tutoring the previous day, and she was wearing a brand new name-brand cardigan and matching skirt to school that day- and looked awesome in it, if she did say so herself.

Sinead rounded the corner into the hallway where her locker was, her arms full of books to deposit… and stopped short. There was Kenzie Radcliffe, right in front of _her_ locker, talking with another cheerleader, two football players, Tiffani from math class, and Mary-Anne Carlisle.

"O. M. G. No way!" the cheerleader, a brunette, gasped.

"No, like, I'm totally serious," Kenzie said gravely. "It's all true. See, I _told_ you that girl was bad news."

Sinead had a suspicion that "that girl" was her, but she continued listening.

"Nuh-uh," one of the boys said, shaking his head in disbelief. "She's just a normal chick. There's no way…"

Kenzie raised an eyebrow. "Isn't there, Zane? Think about it. It all makes, like, perfect sense."

The athlete called Zane opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again.

"Perfect sense," Kenzie repeated.

"It kind of does," Tiffani admitted.

"No," said Mary-Anne. "No. Not Sinead. She isn't that kind of person."

Still peering cautiously around the wall, Sinead's mouth became a thin line. _Well_, she thought, _At least someone is taking up for me. But what are they even talking about_?

"Are you _kidding_, Mary-Anne?" Kenzie spat. "The proof's totally in front of your eyes- or do you need to start wearing your nerdy glasses again to see it? She has a major temper. Cassie, you saw her threatening me after cheer practice the other day, didn't you?"

The brown-haired cheerleader nodded, causing her ponytail to bob up and down.

I _threatened _her? Sinead thought indignantly. _That is so not true! It was the other way around_!

"And," she went on, "Have you seen all those ugly scars on her arms? Zane, remember how your brother had that firework accident a few years ago?"

"Yeah," said Zane.

"He has scars that look just like that. They came from some kind of explosion, don't you think? Which totally fits what I just told you," Kenzie said.

Sinead traced her fingers along her arms. Her cheeks were burning. _But… the doctor said no one would even notice them anymore…. And she called me 'ugly!' Has she _seen_ her hair today_?

Actually, Kenzie's golden hair looked as sickeningly flawless as ever. But her next words- now, _those_ were ugly.

"And you know what else I heard? You know why she came here in the first place?"

"She said her brothers had to have surgeries here," Mary-Anne chimed in.

"And that's true. But that's not the only reason. You know what _really_ happened?" said Kenzie. "They're, like, in hiding. From the police. Because of what she did."

_What? What did I do?_

"I bet Sinead Starling isn't even her real name," put in Cassie.

"Maybe you have a point," Mary-Anne said. "I mean, who names their kids Sinead, Ned, and Ted?"

Sinead felt her heart speed up to a thunder in her chest, slamming painfully against her rib cage. Her parents, that was who!

"_And_," Kenzie said, holding up a perfectly manicured hand for silence, "You know _why_ her brothers are in the hospital? They were in the explosion, too."

Her posse stared at her, their eyes intent on her subtly smirking face. Sinead's gaze was also trained on her, and her pulse continued to quicken. What did Kenzie know about the explosion? Was she making this up, or did she somehow know?

Kenzie didn't know. But she did know that she had her friends hanging on to her every word. And so she continued. "Sinead _started_ the explosion- knowing that, like, thousands of other people were going to get hurt." She sneered. "Even her own brothers."

Sinead had been the subject of untrue gossip before (and not just the rumors that she was dating Hamilton Holt). Being a Cahill, she had been lied about- and a few had been some pretty nasty lies, as well.

But no accusation had ever struck her quite so hard as this one did. She could now hear her heart pounding in her ears. The world in front of her grew red, red from the fury, the intense hatred she suddenly felt towards Kenzie Radcliffe.

She would _never_ do anything to harm her brothers! She loved Ted and Ned. They were her family. They were her partners- in science, in the Clue Hunt, in almost everything. And even though they sometimes annoyed her, they were probably her closest friends, too.

_How dare she_! Sinead thought. _That lying, scheming little…_!

And suddenly, Sinead's vision was blurred by tears. She had to try valiantly to choke back a sob, or else Kenzie would hear and know that she had listened to every word- and that it had hurt her.

Hurriedly, she turned on her heels and took off in the opposite direction, back out into the sudden cold of the morning.

/

It hadn't been difficult to fake a phone call from her mother to the school, saying that she had a fever and wouldn't be coming to school that day. Nor was it difficult to convince her brothers not to tell their parents when they came home from work.

What was difficult was lying on her bed staring up at the ceiling and replaying Kenzie's accusations in her mind over and over and over again.

It wasn't true. Sinead knew that. Of course she knew what had really happened. But nevertheless, to hear those spiteful words coming out of Kenzie's mouth- to see her little gang, even Sinead's so-called friend Mary-Anne, believing every syllable- hurt her, like the sharp aching she had felt after first waking up in the hospital after the explosion.

_I'm not crazy. The explosion wasn't my fault- and I would _never_ deliberately hurt Ned and Ted. _I_ know that… but what use is knowing the truth when everybody else will believe something else_?

It was nearly time for school to let out by the time she came downstairs to eat lunch. And even then, she only toyed with it with the end of her fork; she didn't actually touch it. She sat there, stabbing half-heartedly at her food and listening to Kenzie's lies again in her head. The tears returned against her will, and she was glad that her brothers were in their room so they couldn't see and ask what was wrong. It had been hard enough to get them to stop questioning her after she had decided to skip school that day.

_KNOCK-KNOCK! _A sharp rapping at the door snapped her out of her trance. She stared in the direction of the sound for a moment, not moving.

The sound repeated after a pause. _KNOCK-KNOCK!_

Ned's face appeared from the hallway, from which he and Ted were approaching. "Sinead, do you want me to get that?"

Slowly, she stood up from her seat at the table. "No," she said. "No, I'll get it." She walked over to the door and threw it open.

There stood Hamilton on her doorstep, math book in hand. "Um, hey, Sinead," he said. "I didn't see you in math today, but I wasn't sure if you'd still want me to come over today." He paused a moment, looking at her more closely. "Are you okay? You look like you've been crying."

"I have not!" she exclaimed, crossing her arms. "I just have a cold, that's all. That's why I wasn't at school."

"Oh," said Hamilton. "Well, I'm sorry you're sick. Do you want me to leave?"

_Yes_, she thought. "No," she said.

He stepped into the house and set the book down in its place on the table. "Hey," he said, glancing down at her uneaten lunch, "That turkey looks good. Much better than whatever it was they had in the cafeteria today."

Sinead took a seat across from him and mumbled, "You can have it."

"Really?" He started eating. Between bites, he said, "You didn't miss much in math." A huge mouthful of turkey. "We just reviewed what we learned yesterday." Another bite. "And I understood it pretty well, too. I even answered a few questions."

It was her turn to respond, "Really?"

"Uh-huh." He grinned. "I thought Mr. Katswell was gonna have a heart attack, right there in the middle of class!"

"Wow. That's… That's great, Hamilton."

Hamilton raised his eyebrows. "Are you sure you're okay? I thought you'd be happy that I'm doing better. That means you won't have to tutor me much longer."

"Oh." To be honest with herself, Sinead had completely forgotten this fact.

"Well, I'm sorry you're sick. I really didn't know where you were. When Mr. Katswell was calling roll and you weren't there, Tiffani said something kind of weird. She said, 'It's good she's not here. She'd probably just try to blow up our school,' or something like that."

And she was on the verge of tears again.

The funny thing about crying is that the harder you try not to cry, the more you do. And the more that Sinead tried not to cry, the more the tears welled up in her eyes, until they finally spilled over.

Hamilton looked at her in concern. "What's wrong? Is it something I said?"

She didn't answer, as she was still too busy trying not to cry and therefore crying more.

"What Tiffani said?" he asked.

She slowly nodded. "I hate her," she sniffled, "And I hate Kenzie Radcliffe."

"What's wrong?" he said again.

She repeated what she had overheard that morning, only with a lot more sobbing. "I heard Kenzie talking about me." Sniff. "She said that I threatened her, and that I was in hiding from the police. She… Sh-she made fun of my scars and she said that…" A fat tear rolled down her cheek. "…That _I_ caused the explosion, trying to hurt a lot of people- in-including Ned and Ted." And she broke down crying again.

Hamilton stared at her in shock for a moment, dumbfounded by what she had just told him. Then, he opened his mouth to speak. "Sinead…"

"Shut up!" she spat. She covered her face with her hands. "Quit staring at me!"

"Sinead," he tried again, "I'm really sorry that…"

"I don't know why I even told you!" she cried, followed by a barely audible, "I don't want your pity…."

He surveyed the room, looking for a tissue box. When he failed to find one, he settled for a roll of paper towels on the nearby countertop. He ripped one off and handed it to her. "Here."

She took it and dabbed at her eyes but continued to glare at him. "I'm serious. I don't want you feeling sorry for me, Hamilton Holt."

Hamilton weighed his words in his mind for a bit, trying to think of something that sounded good enough to say aloud. "I don't feel sorry for you, Sinead," he said at last. "Who I really feel sorry for is Kenzie- for being so insecure that she thinks she has to tell a bunch of stupid lies about you because she knows you're better than her."

Sinead sniffled and stared at him, the scowl wiped off her face. "You're being serious?"

He nodded his head. "Yeah. At least, that's what they say on TV. People like her pick on other people because they see them as… threats, or something like that."

"That's what they say," she admitted. She frowned. "But why would Kenzie be threatened by me? She thinks I'm a nerd."

"She knows you're smarter than her," said Hamilton. "And you're the new girl. She's probably scared you're gonna get all the attention or something…. After all, I hear that some of my friends think you're pretty cute."

She blinked away the last of her tears, now clearly curious. "Like who?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. Just some of the guys."

"Like who?" she repeated.

And he said again, "I don't know."

"If you say 'I don't know' one more time, I'm going to assume that it's you," she threatened with a half-smile that looked a lot better than her previous teary expression.

"No, I'm serious, I overheard a couple of them saying you were pretty!" he exclaimed. He paused, grinning back. "Although… you are sort of cute…."

She scoffed. "Are you kidding me? When I've just been crying? I bet my eyes are all puffy and…" She trailed off, suddenly realizing what he had just said. Her cheeks flushed. "Wait… Are you flirting with me?"

Hamilton grinned bigger. "Nope. Only trying to get my tutor's head back in the game so we can get today's lesson out of the way. I promised my sister I'd go to her ballet recital tonight, so I kind of have to leave in an hour."

"Oh," said Sinead. Her face still felt like it was on fire. "Well, then, we'd better get down to business." And she cracked open the math book.

**Author's Note: So, what'd you think? Sorry about any mistakes; I wrote the majority of this chapter today when the writing bug suddenly struck me, and I didn't even really edit it. But I hope you liked it nonetheless. Again, sorry for the long wait! Feel free to review and chew me out about it, okay? XD**

**~Lily**


	5. A Conversation With a Kabra

**Author's Note: I'm back! Faster than last time! Yippee! XD Honestly, I wrote all of this today, and it's unedited and probably awful.**

**Anyway, I guess that, as of The Medusa Plot (good, wasn't it?), this story is now AU. If you haven't figured out, I mean.**

**But I'm not going to ramble. On with the story!**

Ian Kabra was the absolute _last_ person that Hamilton wanted to speak with at the moment.

He knew that the Clue Hunt was over and that the branches was supposed to be (_supposed to be_) "at peace" now, but it was far easier in theory than it was in actuality. And Hamilton couldn't bring himself to forget who Ian's mother was, how she had threatened to murder his family in cold blood, just because the Madrigals called for "peace." That wasn't going to make him suddenly become friends with a slimy Lucian.

Then again, one thing about Lucians: they were almost as smart as Ekats and way sneakier, to boot. They had access to probably zillions upon zillions of files on practically everyone on the planet- and that meant tons of blackmail material.

Yes, blackmail was a Lucian thing. But Hamilton was ticked off on a major level. You couldn't just mess with his friend, his tutor, his Cahill cousin (_very_ distant cousin) and expect to get away with it- and Kenzie Radcliffe was definitely not going to.

It wasn't really just because Sinead was his friend and all of those other things, either. It was what Kenzie was saying: that _she _had set off the bomb, that _she_ had hurt herself and her brothers, that _she_ was the one to blame for the Franklin Institute….

When he knew all too well that it was him.

He popped all the knuckles on one hand and sifted through his contact list. _Hadleigh Charles… Harley Kline… Ivan Kleister… _Whoops, he had gone down too far. Oh, there it was- _Ian Kabra_.

The waiting as the phone rang in his ear seemed to last for at least two or three eternities. At last, the clipped British voice answered, "Hello?"

"Hey, Ian," said Hamilton, rolling his eyes at the way that English accents seemed to make even simple greetings sound snooty. "It's me- Hamilton."

"I know," Ian replied. "What do you need? I've got someone waiting on the other line."

Hamilton had to laugh. "Is it Amy?"

"What?" he spluttered. "Why would you automatically assume…?" His voice became a growl. "Daniel. He's been saying things about me again, hasn't he? I don't care if we _are_ supposed to be at peace now; I am going to _crush_ that little…!"

"Ian! Listen, man!" He paused. _If Dad knew I was saying this to a Lucian… _"I kind of need your help."

Ian seemed to be taken aback by these words, as well. "My help? With what?"

"Well," Hamilton began, "You're a sneaky Lucian. I need your sneaky Lucian skills."

"As much as I _don't_ need your dimwitted Tomas voice prattling in my ear?" he muttered in return. "I don't think so. I'm not joking, I'm in the middle of something right now…."

"Real quick," he said, swallowing his anger at being called stupid yet again. "Could you maybe look up all the dirt you have on a girl named Kenzie Radcliffe?"

Ian's irritation was gone in an instant. His voice now held an audible edge of curiosity. "Could you spell that? And may I ask why you need it?"

Hamilton quickly spelled the name out and explained, "She's a jerk at our school. She's been spreading some real mean lies, and I can't let her get away with that."

"Lies about you?"

"Um… Not exactly."

"About…?" prompted Ian.

"Sinead," Hamilton reluctantly supplied. "About how she got her scars. About the bombing…"

"Such as…?"

"She said Sinead set off the bomb, actually _trying _to hurt a bunch of people- even her brothers…" His voice began to rise. "And that she's crazy and a terrorist and…"

"And you want to defend her," Ian finished. He snickered. "Cute."

"Cute?" Hamilton echoed. You generally did _not_ call a Tomas "cute" unless you wanted your skull bashed in. "What are you talking about?"

Ian sounded far too innocent. "Oh, nothing…. I'm only saying, why do you suddenly care? You didn't care so much when you and your family set off that bomb in the first place."

This time, Hamilton couldn't quite swallow down his anger in time. "You shut up! That's in the past! I'm trying to make up for that now!"

"I…" He heard Ian gulp on the other side of the line. "I didn't mean it that way, Holt. I was only saying that you didn't used to care so much about Ekats. You Tomas don't tend to, what with the bitter rivalries and all…. And yet, you're trying to take up for her. It's…"

"If you say it's 'cute' one more time, Lucian…" Hamilton growled.

"No. It's just, well… funny, that's all."

"So, will you look it up or not?" asked Hamilton, drumming his thick fingers against the side of the phone. "I mean, I'm kind of busy, and I thought that you were, too…."

"Drat!" Ian exclaimed suddenly. "All right, I will. I'll call back later." And he abruptly hung up.

Hamilton laughed. _Dan may be a dweeb sometimes, but my little buddy's not a liar…._

It was only moments later that the phone, still resting in his hand, began to vibrate. He promptly picked up. "Already, Kabra?"

"Well, apparently a certain someone got tired of waiting on the other line…." Ian took a deep breath. "Anyway, I'm looking up any data about Kenzie Radcliffe in our system. I'll see what I can do."

Hamilton found himself sighing with relief. "Thanks, man."

"You're welcome," Ian said. He chuckled. "But are you positively sure that you don't like Sinead Starling? After all, asking _me_ for help- I doubt you wanted to do that."

That was true- he hadn't- but the other teen's question… He stopped still. "What?" His voice sounded thin to his own ears. "No way, I don't!"

The Kabra laughed again. "You know that I've been trained to read voices since I was young, right? And yours…"

"Will you just look up the stupid information and get back to me?" Hamilton barked into the phone. "Like I said, I'm busy, too." And he slammed the phone shut.

_What an idiot_, he thought. _For a so-called "genius," he's totally brainless- and he calls _me_ stupid! I do not like Sinead!_

He just didn't want her to take the fall for something that he himself had done. He didn't want her to suffer any more than she already had because of it. And anyway, someone needed to put that stuck-up Kenzie in her place.

And he hadn't exactly been _lying _when he had teasingly told Sinead that he thought she was pretty….

Hamilton sat bolt upright in his seat. "Shoot," he grumbled, "Now the Lucian and his stupid mind-tricks are getting to me…."

Yeah. It was just stupid Ian Kabra with his stupid scheming Lucian games, trying to probe him for humiliating information over the phone so he could blackmail him with it later on.

Hmph, no wonder Amy Cahill had ended her own phone conversation with him while she had the chance.

**Author's Note: I couldn't resist mentioning Amian just a bit. I just couldn't. Anyway, I hoped you enjoyed this chapter! I know it was short... :/**

**Oh, well, until next chapter (whenever that may be)...**

**~Lily**


	6. Of Peace Plans and Past Tenses

**Author's Note: I told StuckInSpace that I would try to have this up by today. And wow, I actually succeeded! This has to be the fastest update I've ever had in regards to this story- yay! :D Anyway, on with the story. This time, it's what was going on with Sinead at the same time as the last chapter's events.**

Amy Cahill had to be the absolute _craziest_ person that Sinead had ever met.

Well, not really _crazy_, exactly. It was more that she honestly believed that the branches would be able to suddenly become the best of friends just because the Clue Hunt was over. It was a nice thought, Sinead figured, but it probably wasn't ever going to happen.

She did like Amy, though. Amy was smart and well-read and honestly had a good heart, which was more than she could say for most of her other distant Cahill relatives. She could honestly say that the two girls had struck up a friendship of sorts in the past few months.

So she felt she could talk to her about what had gone on at school recently. She dialed her number- her fingertips had already engraved the pattern into their memory- and waited.

It was two and a half rings later that Amy answered. "Sinead? Hey. What's going on?"

Sinead had to smile a bit; Amy always sounded worried when she called her out of the blue, as if she was nervous that something bad was going on. And she supposed there was good reason for that. But still, it amused her.

"Nothing's wrong, Amy. I just wanted to talk. Are you busy?"

Amy paused for a moment. "Well, I was on the phone, but I've been on hold for a minute or so…. So I guess I'm not busy."

"Oh. Who were you talking to?"

"Ian." Amy heard Sinead's not quite muffled laugh and put in quickly, "Honestly, you're like Dan! We were just talking about how the Lucians are responding to the branch peace plans I've been trying to implement- not too well, I'm afraid. Not that I'm surprised. They're pretty pig-headed when it comes to listening to people who aren't Lucians."

Sinead nodded, although her friend couldn't see. "That they are. I'm surprised Ian is even cooperating with you." She paused. "Actually, no, I'm really not."

The exasperation suddenly present in Amy's voice was apparent as she exclaimed, "Really, Sinead! Has Dan been talking to you lately? Because you're starting to sound just like him. Ian doesn't like me!"

Sinead raised an eyebrow. "I don't know; like you said, they're pretty stubborn. So how do you explain the fact that he's working to help you like this?"

Amy heaved a sigh. "So… what did you call to talk about?"

She told her briefly about the situation with Kenzie. "…And I don't know why she is so mean to me in the first place. I haven't done anything to her."

"Well, I'm no expert on love, but it sounds like she has a pretty big crush on Hamilton. And then, you show up: you already have a past with him, you're tutoring him in math, you're now friends with him. I mean, she's obviously just jealous."

"That's what Hamilton said, too. And speaking of Hamilton, he says he'll take care of things," she concluded. "I'm not quite sure what that's supposed to mean. Should I be worried at all?"

"Maybe a little," Amy said, "Worried that he's going to pummel a few people." She laughed lightly. "No, I don't think you should be. It's kind of sweet that he wants to take up for you."

A small smile crept onto Sinead's face. "Sweet? Hamilton Holt? Those are two things that I never thought could go together."

"Don't you think so, though, Sinead?"

She didn't answer for a moment. "Well, yeah," she said at last, "I guess so. I mean, as long as he doesn't do anything stupid…"

Amy sighed, but not out of irritation this time. There was a smile in her tone. "At least _some_ Cahills are getting along."

"Well, it's not like Hamilton's as frustrating as those Lucians," said Sinead.

"He seems pretty willing to make peace, all right," said Amy. "Think he likes you?"

Silence as her words caught up to Sinead. "_What_? No, of course not!"

Suddenly, it was as if Amy was repeating her own words back to her, like a parrot: "Then how do you explain the fact that he's working to help you like this?"

She felt the heat rising to her face. "It doesn't mean anything; he's just a nice guy, that's all."

"Nice?" she echoed. "Remember when you called me the night after you first found out you two were going to the same school?" She launched into a pitch-perfect imitation of Sinead. "You were complaining: 'Ugh, Hamilton Holt is such a mouth-breather! He's so stupid and such a jerk! I can't believe I'm going to have to tutor him!'" She paused to catch her breath, then said, "So when did this change come about?"

"I…" Sinead stopped to think this over. "I'm not sure. Maybe when he first took up for me with Kenzie? But I think you're blowing my initial reaction out of proportion- I don't think I was actually _that_ upset. I mean…"

"No, I think that was pretty much what you said," said Amy. "So, do you like him, too?"

And the flush heating up her cheeks was even more intense and uncomfortable now. "No way! Why would you even think that, Amy?"

"Because you go from ranting about how stupid and annoying you think he is to admitting he's sweet in the blink of an eye," she said.

"It's just because _he's _acting different now," Sinead protested. "It's not a change in my heart; it's just a change in his behavior."

She could tell that Amy didn't quite believe her, but her friend decided, like a true Madrigal, to just keep the peace. "Oh. Well, okay. I guess that could make sense."

Suddenly, a high-pitched scream on the other line pricked Sinead's ears: "_Amy! Amy, come here_!"

"Dan?" Amy cried. "Sinead, I'll call you back. It's Dan." And suddenly, the dial tone rang in Sinead's ears.

She put the phone down. _Amy's just upset because I was teasing her about Ian, so she was getting back at me by asking me if Hamilton and I like each other. Which we don't. I mean, that wouldn't even make sense_.

She took a glance at the math book sitting on her bedside table. _He's a Tomas; our branches hate each other. And _we _hated each other. I mean, he and his stupid family almost _killed _Ned, Ted, and I_!

Her mind screeched to an abrupt halt, and she sat down on her bed. "Did I say 'hated?'" she asked herself aloud. "In the past tense?"

_Well, of course_, her mind argued. _You're friends now, aren't you_?

And yet, the term "friends" had always sounded strange to her; it had just not felt right, exactly. Was that just because they had once been bitter enemies? Or…

_Could Amy actually be right_? The thought was rather disconcerting. _Of course she can't be right. He's a dimwit. He's a big, buff, brainless buffoon_.

But he had proven that he could actually be smart when he wanted to be. Since he had actually begun trying, their study sessions had started to go surprisingly smoothly. He really _did_ have a brain; she just hadn't seen it until recently.

_But "recently" is when everything started to change…._

Sinead didn't exactly like the direction in which her brain was traveling. Thankfully, at that moment, her cell phone began to chime again, and for a moment, all thoughts of Hamilton Holt were purged from her mind.

"Amy?" she said, picking up. "What's wrong? Is Dan all right?"

Amy's voice now held an interesting mixture of embarrassment and vexation. "The little dweeb was just calling at me- screaming like he was being _kidnapped _or something!- so he could tell me that he had beaten some big boss Ghetsis guy on his newest Pokemon game. Can you believe him?"

Sinead suddenly burst into a fit of giggling, with Amy soon joining her. "Actually, I can."

It was nearly a minute later when their laughing died down, and Sinead suddenly recovered her train of thought from moments before Amy's call. She took in a deep breath.

"I can't believe I'm actually asking you this- seeing as I don't even believe you could be right for a second- but… how do you know when you like someone, anyway?"

**Author's Note: Haha, it seems like Sinead isn't quite as deep in denial as her _boyfriend_ is. ;) Anyway, silly Dan- that's exactly what my own brother would do. And I love putting random Dan moments in stories just because he's so funny! Whenever he's not being the Emo Dan from the Medusa Plot, that is... O.o (And see, Amy didn't hang up with Ian on PURPOSE... probably. XD)**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this quicker-than-normal update from me. I know it was shorter than some of the other chapters, but hopefully it was still good. I know I'm probably irritating you by asking for reviews yet again, but I can't know what you thought or how I can maybe improve if you don't! :)**

**~Lily**


	7. Concentration and Blue 76

**Author's Note: Another update already! See, I'm trying to be better about this updating stuff! XD Anyway, I'm not going to ramble; let's just get on with the story! :)**

The call came the next afternoon as Hamilton was in the process of working through a very complicated math problem. The incessant ringing broke his concentration into smithereens. For a moment, he contemplated ignoring the call; then, he looked down at the caller ID and saw that it was Ian.

_Well, it took him long enough_, Hamilton thought with a hint of a grin. _I wonder what he figured out_….

Sinead, meanwhile, slammed her hands down on the table in frustration. Seriously? Just when he had been on the verge of having a mathematic breakthrough? What a terrible interruption!

And now, he was just about to answer his phone in the middle of their tutoring session. Her eyelids narrowed. "Can't it wait?"

"Nuh-uh," Hamilton said with a shake of his head before he flipped his cell phone open and pressed it tightly to his ear. "Hey. What'd you find out?"

Sinead strained her ears in an attempt to figure out who he was speaking to. She could hear the faintest response from a deep voice on the other line, but she could neither identify the speaker nor quite make out his words.

"Really?" said Hamilton after a pause. "Seriously, man? You found something?"

Excitement was clearly visible on his features, as plain as the sun highlighting each one of them through the window, and Sinead found herself rolling her eyes. _If only he was this enthusiastic about math_…

"Oh, okay," Hamilton nodded. "Okay, I'll check it later. I'm kind of in the middle of something." (That last bit was said with a slightly apologetic smile in her direction, to which she nodded.)

Another brief pause. Then, "Yeah, really, thanks a lot, Kabra."

_Kabra_? Sinead thought. She felt her eyes go wide in surprise. Hamilton was talking to Ian Kabra? No, _thanking _Ian Kabra? What on Earth could this be about?

The burly blonde's face abruptly turned an uncharacteristically dainty shade of pink, as if he had just finished running a marathon or two. His tentatively friendly grin vanished off the face of the world, replaced by shocked horror.

"What? No way! Shut up, dude! I do not!"

This time, Sinead could distinctly hear Ian's smug snicker on the other line, followed by something that sounded rather like, "Of course you don't, Holt. And my sister loves shopping at- what is it called?- Walmart."

The sarcasm seeping from his tone was obviously lost on Hamilton. "Huh? But I thought she thought that was a 'filthy peasant store.'"

And again, Ian's response wasn't quite audible, but she could tell from his tone that it wasn't quite friendly.

"Well, whatever," said Hamilton. "Like I said, I'm busy. I'll check my email later. Bye."

He shut his cell phone and returned it to his pocket. Sinead asked, "What was that about?"

"Nothing," he said. "Just Ian Cobra wanting to bug me."

She raised one eyebrow. "I'll assume you guys weren't talking about 'Cahill peace meetings.'"

"Ugh, please. I'd rather make peace with a rattlesnake!" He paused, his grin making a momentary comeback. "You know, if I could tell the difference."

"No, really," she persisted, "What were you talking about?"

"Nothing," repeated Hamilton. "Like I said, Ian was just being the same old pain in the butt that we know and don't really love."

Sinead opened her mouth again, then closed it quickly back, recalling how stubborn the Tomas were and realizing that it would probably be of no use to further prod him for answers.

"All right," she said, brushing back a loose strand of hair out of her face, "Then let's get back to math."

He nodded resolutely, picked up the pencil, and began again.

While Hamilton worked on the long-winded problem in surprising silence, Sinead tried to preoccupy herself with reading the ingredients on the label of a bottle of juice that one of her brothers had left lying out on the table. _Blue 76_? What sort of ingredient was that? _Grape juice concentrate_…

Concentrate. No, concentrating was proving difficult to do, as her gaze was continually drawn back to Hamilton's face- his expression was twisted, his lips pursed and his nose slightly scrunched from focusing so intently- as if his skull contained a magnet and her eyes did, as well. Except that wasn't the case.

Ever since her conversation with Amy the previous night, Sinead hadn't been able to think of anything else. In fact, she had missed two whole problems on the math worksheet that day due to being unable to pay attention to anything save for the back of Hamilton Holt's head as the burly athlete leaned forward across his tiny wooden desk, absorbing Mr. Katswell's every droned word.

"_You're asking the wrong person, Sinead; I'm definitely not an expert on love," _Amy had said, _"But I guess that, when you like someone, you just- I don't know- _know_. Like you find yourself thinking about that person for no real reason at the most random times of the day, and whenever they're around, you can't stop paying attention to what they're doing and saying, and…" _She had sighed and laughed lightly. _"No, seriously, don't ask me. I mean, again, what do I know?"_

More than she had thought she knew, that was for sure. Because suddenly, Sinead found herself aware of every little exasperated sigh and erasing movement and faint nose twitch from across the table. And by Katherine, it absolutely terrified her.

_He's a Tomas- no, worse than that, he's a Holt! A Holt who was willing to resort to sabotage and subterfuge to find the Clues and who_… She absently ran her fingertips along the scars on her forearms. …_Who did _this _to me and worse to Ned and Ted. What was I even thinking, letting Amy convince me that I might even like him the slightest bit_?

"Um, Sinead… Are you okay?"

Sinead looked up from the tabletop, where her eyes had been furiously fixed for the past thirty seconds- as if she had been trying to burn it into ashes with her glare. And speaking of burning, her face suddenly felt as if it was on fire.

"What? I'm fine," she said quickly. (She didn't feel fine.) "Everything's fine." (Not.) "Now, get back to your problem." (_So you don't pick up on my fears that I'm… _She couldn't complete the thought.)

Hamilton looked mildly concerned. "Didn't you hear me? I told you I finished it, like, five minutes ago."

"Oh." She searched the paper, past the stray marks and half-erased mistakes and crossed-out calculations, until she located his answer. "Yeah. Yeah, that's right."

He raised his eyebrows, and she couldn't seem to tell whether he was surprised or he was expecting some form of praise to issue from her lips. She gave it to him either way; it had been a pretty difficult problem.

"Good work. You're getting better." Her tone was flat.

He didn't seem to notice. "Thanks, Sinead."

Her face had just finished reverting back to its typical color, but at his simple words- by which he didn't even really mean anything- the blush returned with a scarlet vengeance. She wasn't sure why; at least, she hoped she wasn't sure.

"Are you okay?" he asked again.

"Yeah. I'm just tired. Why don't you go on home? You've done enough work for today."

As a Cahill, Hamilton instantly was able to see through her half-hearted nod. But he merely said, "Okay. I guess I'll see you tomorrow," slung his backpack over his broad shoulders, and left the Starling home.

_Something _is_ wrong_, he thought as he trudged down the driveway. _I'll bet Sinead is still upset over that junk Kenzie said. But Ian told me he'd found some pretty interesting stuff on her; I'll have to check it out when I get home_.

/

When Hamilton got home, he first played a game of basketball against his sisters. Then another. And then the Holt clan ate dinner. But _then_, he retired to his room (muttering an excuse about needing to clean the mashed potatoes out of his hair that Madison had flung at him during the meal) and logged onto his email account.

There it was, waiting in his inbox. "_From: Ian Kabra. Subject: K. Radcliffe._"

Eagerly, he clicked it open. The message itself was simple enough: "_I came across some interesting information about Kenzie Radcliffe that I'm pretty sure she wouldn't want to get out. Take a look for yourself_."

Hamilton noticed that there were several files attached to the message. Feeling his heart speed up just a slight bit, he clicked "download files" (though first, he allowed his computer to scan the documents for viruses- sneaky Lucians and all). It seemed to take an eternity before the download was complete.

And then, he was in for a surprise.

**Author's Note: So, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, though I apologize for the cliffhanger. I already have a few plans for the next chapter- heh-heh- so hopefully, you won't have to wait too long! :D**

**~Lily**


	8. Shades of Blackmail

**Author's Note: Here, I hope this update didn't take too long! I won't waste time rambling; here we find out what Hamilton learned about Kenzie:**

Kenzie Radcliffe five years ago had to be the single _dorkiest_-looking kid that Hamilton had ever seen. (And he had seen some pretty dorky-looking kids in his fifteen years.)

In fact, if the photograph hadn't been labeled with her name, he wouldn't have even recognized the girl in the picture as Kenzie. Today's Kenzie was gorgeous, with long, straight blonde hair, perfect makeup, light brown eyes that were noticeable from a room-length away, and stylish clothes, and she emitted an unmistakable air of smug self-confidence that was nearly impossible to ignore.

This girl was the opposite: she had short, choppy hair, an unremarkable shade of mouse brown, and her face was plain, her eyes almost concealed by big, thick, nerdy glasses. Her sweater was baggy and washed her out, and she looked absolutely uncomfortable in her own skin. In Hamilton's viewpoint, everything about her screamed, "_DORK_!"

He checked the file's label again, just because his brain couldn't seem to quite comprehend the news that this was indeed Kenzie Radcliffe, the popular, self-assured head cheerleader that he had known since middle school. But the words clearly said it: "Kenzie Radcliffe, age 10 years."

Next, Hamilton clicked open the Microsoft Word file. At first, he had to blink his eyes to adjust- there were so many words! And here he had thought that he was finished with academics for the day….

But he ordered his eyes to focus. This was about making her lies stops and paying her back for what she had done to Sinead. So (but not without flinching) he began to read.

Apparently, Kenzie's first name was really Mackenzie, and she and her family had moved to Milwaukee when she was twelve. Before that time, she had been- well, now that Hamilton knew Sinead, he felt slightly bad about using this term, but… a real nerd. She had been studious and unpopular and plain. But before she had started middle school at Milwaukee, she had completely transformed her image. She had dyed her hair, gotten contacts, started wearing makeup and going by "Kenzie," gotten a whole new wardrobe, and joined the cheerleading squad- in other words, she had become the Kenzie that he knew and loathed today.

Hamilton smirked a bit despite himself; Kenzie would _definitely _hate it if this information reached her fellow students. If they found out that she had used to be a nerd, it could be the utter ruination of her flourishing social life.

_And that means that, if I threaten to spill the beans, she'll take back every mean thing she said about Sinead_. Which made an interesting question come to mind…

Why was the phrase "spill the beans" to begin with? What beans were people so scared would be spilled? That didn't even make sense!

Hamilton shook his head to clear it- he had definitely been talking to Dan online _way_ too much lately, and the younger Cahill boy's randomness was starting to rub off on him. No, a better question was: again, why was he doing this? To try and earn Sinead's forgiveness? Or was Ian right?

But of course, Ian couldn't be right… precisely because he thought that he was always right. And Hamilton therefore wanted nothing _less_ than to prove Ian right!

He shook his head again and scanned the document another time. Yep, with this knowledge- and, more importantly, the pictures that Ian had sent- Kenzie could definitely be persuaded to knock it off.

He quickly emailed Ian back: "_I hate to say it, Lucian, but I've got to hand it to you: this is some pretty good dirt you dug up. It just might work_."

Hamilton printed out the pictures, then set about combing the mashed potatoes from dinner out of his hair for real. "Ugh, Madison… Why does food-throwing have to be a Holt family sport?..."

After that, he noticed that he had a new email from Dan and soon found himself in a conversation with the younger boy about (what else?) the latter's "totally EPIC!" defeat of a big Pokemon boss. Hamilton rolled his eyes; yep, Dan Cahill was weird, but he was definitely funny. Sometimes, he wished he had a little brother, though apparently Dan's _actual _sibling didn't think it was so great.

It was somewhere along the line that Hamilton started explaining to Dan about Kenzie and his plan to blackmail her. Dan's response: "_See, Hammer, this is why I stay away from girls! They're PsYcHo! But haha, I wish I could see the look on her face when you show her the pictures… I bet she FLIPS OUT!_"

Hamilton smiled. Oh, Dan… "_Yeah_," he responded, "_The only bad thing is that I had to get the info from a Kabra. Which is kinda embarrassing. Not to mention he's really annoying me._"

Speak of the devil and his annoyingness. At the very moment he sent the message, an email from the aforementioned Ian Kabra materialized in his inbox. He clicked it open.

"_You had better be handing it to me, all right, because it _will _work- and then, you can be Sinead's hero and ride off into the sunset and so on and so forth. And then, I can tell you, 'I told you so._'"

Hamilton stared at the message for a moment, an uncomfortable feeling sort of like sinking filling his stomach. He took his hands off the keyboard. There was no way he was going to answer that; if he did, his response might start another large-scale Tomas-Lucian feud- _that_ was how badly he would have replied.

Instead, he just sunk back in his padded computer chair and switched his attention to the new email that Dan had just sent.

"_Hey, if he keeps bugging you, I'm sure I've got a little blackmail on him that you could use to get him to shut his fangs. Let's just say I picked it up last time Amy made me pay a "friendly little visit" to our favorite Cobras.… Mwahahaha._"

A two-word response: "_I'm listening_…"

/

Ian was going to murder Hamilton Holt _and _Daniel Cahill. And his sister Natalie, for being so careless with her diary. And he might have to murder Amy, as well, if he found out that she had looked upon the photograph that Hamilton had just emailed him along with the words: "_I wouldn't be teasing me if I were you, lover-boy_."

It was a picture taken of Natalie's diary, an entry from the Clue Hunt- something about him having a crush on Amy Cahill (and about Amy dressing like a colorblind homeless person, as well, but he wasn't so preoccupied about that at the moment).

Daniel must have taken the picture of the page when he and Amy had surprised them by paying them a friendly (friendly on Amy's part, that is; hardly tolerable on her brother's) visit several weeks previously. He must have snuck into Natalie's room while she was distracted with watching a chess match between Ian and Amy- she was surprisingly skilled.

Ian paused as the thought occurred to him that Daniel might have been in his own room, as well. Not that he hid things in such obvious places as Natalie, but he had no idea how well the Madrigals had trained the boy by now.

He sighed through his perfect teeth and typed out a response to Hamilton. "_What do you want, Holt_?"

The response was not quite what he had expected. He had expected the Tomas to ask for money, priceless jewels, or perhaps expensive exercise equipment. But he simply said, "_Nothing- only 'cause you helped me out before. But you've gotta stop saying stuff like that if you don't want me to show this to Amy_…."

"_Fine_."

/

Dan laughed hysterically as he read Hamilton's email. "_Awww, Ham, come on_!" he typed back. "_You should've asked for SOMETHING, at least… like an advance copy of Pokemon Gray for me_!"

"_Pokemon Gray_?" his older friend replied.

"_My guess for the title of the next Pokemon game after Black/White! It'd make sense, you know? I seriously wish I could've seen him when he opened that email! I'd be dying laughing right now!_"

"_Yep. He really didn't want me showing it to Amy_."

"_Yeah, I bet…. Don't let him find out this, but she's already seen it! She thinks Natalie was "misinformed" or whatever. But hey, as long as he doesn't know she knows, it's good blackmail. I think I'll try it on him next- hahaha_!"

Hamilton grinned and rolled his eyes (though he was secretly hoping that he wouldn't wake up the next morning to find a dozen Lucian agents pointing dart guns at his heart).

And he also felt a bit of anxiety over what would happen the next morning when he confronted Kenzie with the pictures. He hoped that everything wasn't going to blow up right in his face like a bomb. (Then again, this was sort of all about bombs, wasn't it?)

**Author's Note: Yes, I know, the end was a bit filler-ish. But writing Dan is so much fun, and writing Hamilton/Dan friendship- I just had to do it. And, well, I also kind of wanted to bug Ian a bit (although I feel bad about that, since I also did that in a one-shot I'll be posting shortly).**

**Anyway, no idea when I'll be able to update again. Hopefully, it will be soon, but it all depends on my schoolwork load and my sometimes spazzy computer. Don't worry, though; I do NOT plan to abandon this story. Just in case anyone gets to worrying about that. :)**

**~Lily**


	9. That Million Bucks Feeling

**Author's Note: Another chapter. It hasn't been too long, has it? I'm making an effort to get better... Anyway, I know you probably want to know what happens next, so I'll cut it short after this one more thing...**

**Disclaimer: I, Volcanic Lily, still do not own the 39 Clues. THERE, HAPPY NOW?**

Kenzie Radcliffe's face had to be the single most _hilarious _thing that Hamilton had ever seen. (Um, when she saw the pictures, that is.)

Seconds ago, she had been shamelessly flirting with him. Now, her jaw had fallen open wider than he thought was humanly possible. Her heavily mascaraed eyes had gone as wide as saucers. And the only sound she could make for several moments was a neverending "b-b-but…" that sounded like an old, dying motorboat.

At last, she managed to get out, "What do you want, Ham?"

Hamilton's tone came out graver than he had expected- also softer, more like a plea, less like an order, and nothing like a Holt. "I want you to quit saying stuff about Sinead that's not true. And I want you to tell her you're sorry."

"So this is all about nerd girl?" said Kenzie. "I still don't get it. Like, what do you even see in her?"

He didn't answer. He merely brandished the pictures like they were a gun pointed straight at the girl's heart- and indeed, she shrunk back, losing much of that signature cool and confidence.

"O-okay," she said.

"_And_," he added, "I want you to tell them something else. You want to know how she really got those scars, Kenzie? You want to know how she and her brothers got hurt?" He sucked in a deep breath of the school's fusty air. "Well, I can tell you."

Her eyes were fixed intently on his face. "Yeah? I'm listening."

"They were in an explosion, like you said. And yeah, there were people who were out to… hurt other people." _Me and my family. Trying to put Dan and Amy out of the race_. "But it wasn't Sinead." _It was us_.

Suddenly, he could hear the distant sound of the explosion in his mind, like a sound that he had heard once and never wanted to hear again (like that Justin Bieber CD that Reagan and Madison had bought solely to torment him with; he shuddered). The faraway cloud of smoke pluming up from the Franklin Institute. He could actually recall _high-fiving _his father about it, calling it a "success." He had trouble maintaining the calm in his voice as he continued.

"She actually triggered the explosion herself- she and her brothers. If they hadn't, then the people that the… bad guys were trying to hurt actually would have gotten blown up instead." _Accidentally, I'm pretty sure, but why mention that_? "So really, she saved them."

"For real?" said Kenzie. She had gone wide-eyed again, but not with fear. He wasn't sure what her expression was- but it wasn't anger or pity, either. "She did that and saved those people?"

_Technically… _"Yeah," he said. "She did." His smile vanished as soon as it appeared. "I mean it, Kenzie. Spread that around the school: everything you said was made up, and this is the real story. And next time you see Sinead, you'd better tell her you're sorry."

"You mean, like right now?"

"Huh?" He turned around, and there, indeed, was Sinead, making her way towards her locker. When she saw him talking with Kenzie, she stopped and raised an eyebrow.

Hamilton gave Kenzie a harsh stare. "Then you'd better go."

She hesitated, chewing lightly on her full lower lip. "But I…"

"Go," he said again. He flashed the pictures one more time and added, "Unless you want to find copies of these taped to every locker and bulletin board in the school." He sounded like a Lucian; was that a bad thing?

Reluctantly, Kenzie stepped around him and made her way up to Sinead. "Hey."

Sinead didn't trust her in the least- she had no reason to. Planting her hands firmly on her hips, she retorted, "What?"

"I was just going to say…" She turned back and gave Hamilton a look. He nodded. "…Say that I'm- ugh- sorry for the stuff I've been saying about you. And…" Another look. Another nod. "…And I'll clear it up."

"What did you just say?" Sinead gawked, her own mouth now agape.

Kenzie glowered. "You heard me. And FYI, just because I'm doing this, it totally doesn't mean I like you. I'm just, well, looking out for my best interests, that's all. It's, like, logical, right?"

She raised both eyebrows this time. "'Logical?' You sound like Spock."

"Hmph." The blonde girl scoffed and tossed her hair. "I'm not a Vulcan or a nerd girl like you. Now, I've got to go." And she stormed away.

Sinead made her way to Hamilton's side, looking bewildered. He wondered if she was about to question what he had done to change Kenzie's mind so swiftly. But she simply said, "If she's not a nerd, then how does she know what a Vulcan is?"

Hamilton replied, "What's a Vulcan?"

"See?" _Now _came the question he had been anticipating: "How on Earth did you get her to do all that? Now _that _wasn't 'logical' at all."

Hamilton produced the pictures of younger Kenzie. Sinead took one glance at them, then asked, "Who is that? She looks a little like Kenzie."

"It _is _Kenzie."

The girl burst into a fit of hysterical laughter. Hamilton had heard the phrase "doubled over laughing" before, but this was the first time that he had actually seen someone do so in real life.

At last, Sinead recovered enough to say with hardly a titter, "You're joking me. That's Kenzie? But she looks like… a 'nerd girl' herself!"

"She was," he said.

"No way." She smiled wryly. "Well, that makes her teasing me seem kind of hypocritical, don't you think?"

"Yeah, well, she is a hypocrite. But at least now, everybody's going to realize she was lying about you, right?"

"Right."

And then, Sinead did the utterly unexpected: she hugged him. Right there in the middle of the school hallway lined with lockers. It was brief, and when she pulled away, she looked embarrassed at the action, but it was a hug nevertheless.

For some reason, Hamilton's face felt hot. "Uh, Sinead…?"

Her eyebrows furrowed, and she crossed her arms and said, "What are you looking at? Friends hug, don't they?" A slight smile made a crack in her stony façade. "And anyway, blackmail? That was pretty smart of you."

"_Pretty smart_." Those words, to a Tomas from an Ekat, felt like a million bucks.

/

But Hamilton went from feeling like a million bucks to feeling like an old, dented penny in an instant as he entered Mr. Katswell's classroom later that day and saw those two dreaded words written in green Expo marker on the board: "Quiz Today."

"Shoot!" he exclaimed loudly.

Sinead entered the classroom just behind him. "What," she said, "Did you forget to study? I thought I reminded you about it yesterday."

"I was kind of getting my blackmail on," he said, "And it sort of slipped my mind."

The two took their seats, and Hamilton drummed his pencil nervously on his desk. _Tap, tap, tap_. He was going to fail this test; he just knew it.

Sinead's voice came from somewhere behind him. "Calm down. You know this, Hamilton. You're going to ace this test. At least, you had better- I taught you."

He turned around, grinned slightly, and nodded. "Okay. I've got this."

Then came Mr. Katswell's drone from the front of the classroom: "All right, everyone, take out pencil and paper. It's time for our quiz."

/

Mr. Katswell spend the rest of the class period grading his students' quizzes while they worked on their homework. Or, most of them worked on their homework. Hamilton just sat at his desk, slouching and staring intently at the teacher.

"Aren't you going to do your homework?" asked Sinead, who had finished hers in the first five minutes.

He shrugged. "I can do it this afternoon. I just wish he'd hurry and finish grading!"

At that moment, Mr. Katswell stood up from his seat. Sinead murmured, "Apparently, your wish is his command."

"All right," said the math teacher, "I've finished grading your quizzes. Who's finished with their homework who can help me hand it out?"

Sinead's hand shot up, as did another student's across the room, and Mr. Katswell handed half the stack to each of them before returning to his chair.

First, Sinead sifted through the papers until she found her own- _Yes! A hundred!_- then handed out the others. The next to last in her stack? Hamilton's. She glanced at the grade, then lay it face-up on his desk.

He stared at it for a moment, speechless. Then, he burst out at the top of his lungs, "A ninety-three? That's an A!" He waved the quiz paper at Sinead. "Look, I made an A!"

She laughed, taking a quick scan of the classroom. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure that _everyone _in this class is aware of that now…."

Indeed, all eyes were on him after his outburst. But he didn't mind; he just grinned some more. "Check it out: I made an A!"

The million bucks feeling was back.

**Author's Note: Yay, Hamilton! (Seriously, high school math tests are killer.) So, what'd ya think? *insert plea for you all to review here* XD**

**~Lily**


	10. Birthday Lint

**Author's Note: I apologize in advance for the short chapter. I really wanted to end it here, though, for now. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it nonetheless! :)**

The next Friday had to be the single _greatest _day of Sinead's life.

She was nothing less than a hero at her school now: Kenzie's tale had circulated throughout the student body faster than news of Mr. Katswell's surprise quiz in math that day (passed with flying colors, naturally), and now, everyone looked at her in a completely different way than they had mere days ago, when the lie had been going around. They stared at her now with admiration and awe.

Suddenly, she found herself with so many friends that she couldn't keep track of them all, even with her excellent memory. Her smart phone was constantly receiving texts inviting her to hang out. And no less than six boys had asked her out in the past few days.

She had turned each of them down. Because as she became abruptly idolized in the halls, she recalled who had made it that way: Hamilton Holt. The one person that- she was now starting to admit to herself- she honestly wanted to be asked out by. Seriously.

Speaking of Hamilton, Mr. Katswell took him aside after math class. "Mr. Holt, a word, please."

Hamilton swallowed audibly. "Yeah, sir?"

His nervousness was unwarranted; the man gave him a rare smile as he said, "I just wanted to tell you that I've put some new grades into my computer, and your average is now an eighty-six: a B."

"Really?"

Mr. Katswell nodded, his bald crown glistening in the overhead lights. "You've been making a lot of progress lately, Hamilton. I'm proud of your hard work."

Hamilton's face went slightly pink, and he said, "Well, it's not just me; Sinead's been tutoring me like you said."

"Ah. Well, commend her for me, too, then."

But Hamilton didn't need to. Standing just outside the door, Sinead heard every word.

She was likewise proud of Hamilton for all of his good work in math. He had been working extremely hard, and she was glad to see that it was paying off for him.

However, she couldn't help but realize, in the back of her mind, what this meant: his days of needing her help were drawing to a close. Though she wasn't going to admit it to him, of course, she had come to somewhat enjoy tutoring him. Once, she had eagerly anticipated the day when he would be off her hands; now, she was dreading it.

But despite these thoughts, something else continued to make the day shine like gold: it was Sinead's birthday (well, hers, Ned's, and Ted's, of course). Her parents had gotten her the new laptop she had been wanting, and yesterday, Amy had sent her the newest in one of her favorite book series. Mary-Anne Carlisle had even gotten her a gift card to the mall.

Hamilton had forgotten what day it was, of course; he seemed extremely surprised to hear a passing peer call out, "Happy birthday, Sinead!" It irked her a bit, but then again, she hadn't really expected anything from him to begin with.

Which is why she was admittedly surprised when, after saying that he would be running late to their tutoring session that afternoon, he showed up at her doorstep at four thirty-seven with a clumsily wrapped box in his arms.

"Happy birthday," he said, his features slightly sheepish. "I got you a present."

"Thanks…" She could feel the heat rising to her face as she opened up the box. It was a chemistry set (with the Wal-Mart price tag still on it, though she pretended not to notice). She already had more chemistry sets lining her walk-in closet than she knew what to do with, but nevertheless, she smiled and repeated, "Thanks. I love it."

It was then that she noticed Ted and Ned lurking in the hallway, wearing identical grins. Ted said teasingly, "Hey, you do realize we're triplets, right? So where are _our _presents?"

"Yeah?" added Ned.

Hamilton didn't quite realize they were joking and began rummaging through the pockets of his baggy blue jeans. He produced a coin and a gray piece of fluff. "Um, here," he said, "I've got a nickel and some pocket lint…."

Ned stared at the two objects in his meaty hand before saying with a completely straight face, "Dibs on the nickel, Ted."

**Author's Note: Again, sorry for the length of this chapter. Hopefully, the next one will be a lot longer! :D**

**~Lily**


	11. Inequalities

**Author's Note: A SUPER-speedy update this time, since I've been eager to write this part for a while. And this chapter is longer than the last. Hope you enjoy! :)**

"So, when are you going to tell him?"

Sinead feigned obliviousness- "Tell who what?"- but Amy didn't buy it for a second. Not that Sinead had honestly thought she would, but why not hope?

"Tell Hamilton that you have a crush on him, of course," she replied.

"But…" There was no way in the world that she was going to do that. But Amy cut her off before she could even formulate a decent excuse.

"Come on, 'but' nothing. Ian told me last night that Hamilton definitely likes you, and you know how good he is at reading people, Sinead."

Sinead was ever-so-grateful for this opportunity to switch topics. "You were talking to Ian again last night?" she teased. "Ooh, what about?"

"Seriously?" Amy sounded suddenly exasperated. "We were just talking about the usual: peace plans that the Lucians refuse to accept. Why can't their branch be as cooperative as yours?"

"Maybe because Alistair isn't leading them," said Sinead. "He loves you and Dan, so of course, he's willing to go along with your peace plans." She snickered. "But I can see why it's not working with the Lucians: 'peace plans' aren't the kind of plans Ian wants to make with you. Maybe _dinner _plans."

Only silence came from the other line for some time; then, with a soft cough, Amy said, "Y-you know that's just ridiculous, Sinead. And anyway, we aren't talking about me here."

She couldn't resist: "That's right. I was talking about you _and Ian_."

"No," said Amy, "We were talking about you and Hamilton. You like him; he likes you. So what's keeping the two of you from getting together?"

"Our branches hate each other. His family blew us up at the Franklin Institute. And he gave my brothers a nickel and a piece of lint for their birthday yesterday!"

"What?" Amy asked with a half-stifled chuckle.

"You heard me: he obviously forgot that our birthdays were on the same day and forgot to give them anything, so he pulled a nickel and some lint out of his pocket," Sinead related with a roll of her eyes. "The sad thing is, Ned was actually happy with the nickel. That is, until Ted's new guide dog, Flamsteed, took it from him and gave it to Ted. Then, _Ted_ was happy with it."

This time, Amy laughed out loud. "That is sad," she said. "But I guess that's Hamilton for you. He means well, though. And anyway, he _did _get that girl Kenzie to clear your name."

"That's true," admitted Sinead. "And he is working a lot harder now. Did I tell you? Mr. Katswell told him yesterday that he has a 'B' average in his class. He looked so excited that I thought that grin might freeze on his face forever."

"That's great."

"Except for one thing: he won't need my help anymore. There's a big unit test in two days, and after that, he told me that I don't have to tutor him anymore." She felt her face fall. "He thought that I would be happy."

"But you're not," said Amy knowingly.

"No. I'm not."

A short span of silence struck them. Then, Amy said, her voice decisive, "Well, you know what that means, don't you? You need to tell him how you feel _soon_. Tomorrow, when you're studying for the test."

Sinead quirked an eyebrow. "And how do you propose I do that, Amy?"

There was a confident smile in Amy's tone, and that worried Sinead. "I have an idea…."

/

"All right, Hamilton," said Sinead the next afternoon, drumming her fingers in agitation against the table. With her other hand, she thrust the paper toward him. "I wrote out one more practice problem for you." She hesitated. "This is the last problem I'm ever going to make you work, you know, so you'd better get it right."

_For more reasons than one…_

Hamilton coupled a resolute nod with his toothy grin. "I will. This inequality stuff is easy as cake now."

And, clutching his stubby pencil in his fist, he got to work. The look of intense concentration might have made her crack a smile, if not for the swarm of anxious butterflies currently assailing her insides. She only continued tapping her fingers against the wood so that their slight trembling wouldn't be noticed.

Amy's plan wasn't bad, by any means. It was just Hamilton's reaction when he completed the problem and noticed the message that worried her. Amy seemed positive that he returned her feelings; Sinead was far less certain. What if he got upset?

Abruptly, he looked up from the problem, and suddenly, her heart felt as if it had frozen in her chest. He couldn't have finished already- there was no way.

But all he did was smile and say, "Hey, I just wanted to say thanks, by the way. For doing all this, you know."

She blinked. "You're welcome, Hamilton." But by the time she got the words out, he was looking back down at the problem on the sheet before him.

_Tap, tap, tap_, went her fingertips on the tabletop. Her heart had resumed its beating, and now, it was palpitating irregularly quickly. She was reaching the point where she wouldn't even mind if he turned her down, even if he was rude about it- it couldn't be any more torturous than this waiting.

Indeed, it took at least an eternity for him to lay down his pencil and return his gaze to her. She glanced down at the sheet; he had answered it correctly, she saw with another skip in her chest.

_i (less than) 3u_

Chewing lightly on the inside of her cheek out of nerves, she looked back up at him. "Is that right?" he asked with unreadable features. She nodded faintly.

A huge grin spread across his face, quicker than a flash of lightning. He stood up from the table, hardly noticing that he bowled over his chair onto the floor in the process, and the next thing Sinead knew, she was being enveloped in an enormous bear hug, so tight she couldn't breathe for several seconds.

At last, she managed to say, "So… you're happy?"

He released her, still beaming brightly. "Duh, I am! I got it right- and that was a super-tough problem!"

It took his words a few seconds to register. Then, she said slowly, "You mean… you're happy because you solved it? Not…?"

She stopped, and he titled his head and eyed her curiously. "Not what?"

Sinead shook her head, staring back down at the paper. "i (less than) 3u"- how more obvious could it be? She had _literally_ spelled it out for him… and he still didn't see it?

"Look at it again," she said.

"But," said Hamilton, "You said I got it right. It's right, isn't it?"

"Well, yes," she said, "But can you just look at it again anyway?"

"Um, okay, if you say so…" His eyes fell on the problem again, skimming through his work until they reached the answer. "Okay, 'i' is less than '3u.' So… what?"

Sinead fought tooth and nail against the urge to facepalm; she lost. Slapping a hand to her forehead, she muttered, "And I honestly thought you had gotten smarter…."

"What was that?" asked Hamilton.

She sighed through her teeth. "Nothing."

"Oh. Well, in that case, are we done here? Because I kind of owe Reagan and Madison a rematch in Capture the Flag."

He looked at her, waiting for her approval. He didn't even notice the look of pure frustration on her face; he was so oblivious. She sighed again.

"Yeah. We're done here."

**Author's Note: I know, I know, a disappointing ending to the scene. And sorry about the "(less than)" thing; it won't let me put the symbol. Lame. But anyway, don't worry, it ought to get better for Hamilton and Sinead soon. Hope you liked it anyway! :)**

**~Lily**


	12. Email Advice

**Author's Note: Here's the next chapter. By the way, I really appreciated all the reviews I got from the last one (mostly about Hamilton's cluelessness, but whatever). Keep it up! :D**

This had to be the single _worst _level of upset that Amy had ever heard in Sinead's voice. Typically, her friend maintained an admirable level of calm and confident; now, she sounded extremely exasperated- and, equally noticeable to Amy, she sounded miserable.

"And he didn't even notice!" Sinead finished in a groan. "It was right there, spelled out for him- 'I heart you'- and he didn't even notice! How on Earth could someone be so stupid?"

A good question that Amy didn't know how to answer. "At least he didn't say no," was her feeble reply.

"Very encouraging," said Sinead dryly. She stopped for a brief moment. "Hang on, my brothers are calling me- something about… Flamsteed swallowing Ted's nickel? I had better go." And she hung up.

Amy rose from her seat on her bed. She could smell the aroma of supper wafting up from the kitchen; in fact, just as she set down the phone on her bedside table, Nellie's voice called out, "Kiddos! Dinner!"

As she, Dan, and Nellie began to eat (Uncle Fiske was away on Madrigal business), Amy told Nellie about Sinead's failed confession, as Dan pretended not to listen.

"Wow," he said as she concluded. "I have two things to say to that. One: what a geeky way to tell someone you like them."

"Hey!" said Amy. "_I _came up with that!"

He smiled slightly, mischief sparkling in his green eyes. "That would explain it, then."

His sister rolled her eyes before saying, "And your second comment?"

"Whoa," said Dan, "I can't believe someone could actually be that clueless. I thought that was just a TV cliché."

Nellie put in, "I bet Sinead's pretty upset."

Amy nodded.

"If it was me, I would be mad," Dan shrugged. "I mean, if I wrote out a math problem with an answer like that, and the person didn't even notice, I'd be pretty ticked off."

"Me, too," said Nellie.

He smiled brightly. "But that'll never happen to me!" he chirped. "Girls are weird!"

"Hamilton doesn't seem to think so, though," said Amy. "I heard from… well, from a reliable source that he likes her, too. I'm sure he would have been thrilled- if only he had actually gotten the message."

Her younger brother took a sip of Mountain Dew and said with a belch, "Well, if it would make him happy, then he _needs _to get the message." He pushed back his chair and stood up from the table. "I'm going up to my room."

"Why?" asked Amy.

Nellie added, "Are you going to tell him?"

Dan paused. "Actually, I was thinking I would play some Pokemon. But sure, after that, I'll email him."

Amy shot him a smile.

/

Hamilton was feeling beaten. Capture the Flag had not gone well at all. Madison had tackled him to the ground and taken the girls' flag back from him right before he was to triumph over them again; meanwhile, Reagan had run off with his flag and won.

And there was the matter of math. His tutoring sessions with Sinead were over now. It left him feeling a little bit hollow, for some reason.

Now, Hamilton was checking his inbox, just to see what sort of randomness Dan was emailing him about today. But for once, the subject line read nothing along the lines of "my AWESOME ninja skillz!" or "OMG, it IS gonna be called Pokemon Gray- told you!" No, it actually read, "Wow, man, you're dense."

"What?" he said. He clicked open Dan's message, bewilderment plain on his face. But not as plain as the email.

"_Wow, Ham. Just wow. Amy was telling us about what happened today- Sinead's last math problem and all that. All I can really say is, you fail. Now, you probably have no clue what I mean, so I'll spell it out for you (just like she tried to). It said "i (less than sign whatever thingy) u"- as in, "I LOVE YOU!" (I mean, that's what SHE was saying, not me. I like you like a bro, dude.)_

_Anyway, she likes you. Now, I think that's as weird as the next guy (unless the next guy's Amy or Nellie, 'cause they seem to think it's cute), but from what I hear, you like her back, right? So please, can you just ask her out already so the girls will stop talking about it? It's kinda hard to eat a peaceful meal when they're talking about love stuff._

_-Your amigo (who still thinks girls are gross himself), Dan_"

Hamilton read the message again. And again. Then, he gave himself a good, old-fashioned slap in the face. _SMACK!_ And once the stars receded from his vision, he could remember it with clarity: the answer _had _been "i (less than sign) 3u," hadn't it? How had he missed that?

Actually, in retrospect, how had he missed a lot of things? Not only the math problem but Sinead's kindness towards him lately. The blushing. Her hugging him after he had blackmailed Kenzie. Her reaction after he had teasingly called her pretty….

Well, she _was _pretty. He hadn't really been joking about that; even when she had had tears in her eyes and her nose was all red from crying, she had been pretty. He just hadn't realized at the moment how much he had actually meant it.

And now, he felt like a total moron. Sinead had been visibly nervous that day; he realized the reason for that now. And when he hadn't reacted, she had probably figured he was turning her down.

_Which isn't at all what I would have done_….

First, he considered calling Sinead. But then, he realized that it was nearly ten o'clock, and she was probably getting ready for bed, if not already asleep. So instead, he replied to Dan's email:

"_Okay, I feel like an idiot now. Thanks for telling me, man. I guess I'll have to clear things up tomorrow. Any ideas how?_"

Dan's response was almost instantaneous. "_Again, I don't even LIKE girls yet! Why are you asking me? Why don't you ask someone else? Someone who has girls throwing themselves at him all the time._"

"_You mean Ian? There's NO WAY I'm asking him for any more help._"

"_Actually, I was talking about Jonah, but on second thought, asking Ian would be just as good. Just make sure to remind him you've still got dirt on him, mwahahaha._"

"_Yeah, I think I'll just figure something out myself_."

"_Coming from the same dude who just flubbed this up? I'd go with the safe bet. But then again, apparently the Cobra can't spit it out either, since he fLiPpEd OuT about the whole blackmail thing. Maybe a safer bet IS just to figure it out yourself. Or you could ask my sister. She's a girl (we think). And she DID help Sinead come up with her plan before, so… I'll ask her to email you._"

And minutes later, Amy's message arrived in his inbox: "_So, Dan tells me you need my help with asking Sinead out. First of all, that's great- you really need to! You would make an adorable couple. Second of all, I think you should go for the classic approach. Remember, girls love flowers…._"

Hamilton looked up halfway through the email and groaned. Now, how was he going to get his hands on flowers before school without his dad, Madison, and Reagan finding out when he rode to school with them every morning?

**Author's Note: So, anyway, I might not get around to updating as quickly as this time. You know, with the holidays coming up and all... I'll be busy reading 39 Clues Rapid Fire! :D But don't worry, I'm still going to continue this story; just a few chapters left now. Hope you're enjoying this fic, everybody! :)**

**~Lily**


	13. The Plan

**Author's Note: Sorry for the long update. I know I've been better about updating until now, but I've gotten sidetracked by finals and Christmas and new classes and whatnot. Thanks a lot to everyone who reminded me to update; this is for you! :) Anyway, back to the story...**

It was the _worst_ idea ever.

Standing on the doorstep, feeling the painful stare of shocked eyes on him, Hamilton took a moment to look himself over. Sweaty and exhausted, with pain shooting through his limbs, pine needles in his hair and a reddish-brown stain on his jeans. Holding a handful of lifeless strings. In other words, a disaster.

How had it come to this? Oh, yeah…

/

Hamilton had gotten up early that morning so to avoid carpooling with the rest of the Holt clan. He had offered the excuse of early-morning football practice when his dad asked him where he was going. That also helped to explain the presence of Trav's car in the driveway, coming to pick him up.

"So, man," said Trav as Hamilton hurtled into the passenger seat, "Where did you need to go again?"

"The bike store," Hamilton replied. It was his practiced alibi. And Barry's Bikes was just across the street from the flower shop, anyway.

Amy had said that girls liked flowers. But Hamilton was a Cahill, and Cahills went all-out. He needed flowers, balloons, and chocolate. And all before the eight o'clock bell rang.

He picked up the roses from the flower shop without incident. They were big, bright red roses, like the kind guys always gave girls in the movies when they wanted to sweep them off their feet. Hamilton was admittedly pretty new to the whole "romance" business and hoped this was accurate; he really didn't want to look like a dolt today.

Next came the balloons. For that, there was good old Wal-Mart. It was nowhere near Valentine's Day, but he was hoping they might have some red heart balloons in stock nonetheless. So naturally, they didn't- but he managed to find some plain pink latex balloons, which were nearly as good (aside from the fact that he had to pay extra to have a saleslady blow them up with helium for him).

Chocolate. Now, he just needed chocolate. There was a candy store just a block away, and he hurriedly made his way there, thankful for the cover of darkness so that hopefully, no one he knew would see him carrying flowers and girly balloons. Whether he was going to go all-out or not, that would be just plain embarrassing; at least wait until he was giving them to Sinead to be seen, because otherwise, it was just humiliating.

He ducked into the candy store… and groaned when he saw the selection. Those guys really needed to restock their shelves. There were _no _chocolate boxes in sight.

_You're kidding me! _he thought. _It's like my family raided this place or something!_

Then, he spotted it: a solitary white box of chocolate-covered cherries. It was chocolate _something_, at least. Quickly, he dove to scoop it up- nearly plowing into a few other shoppers who were in his path.

"Sorry!" he exclaimed hastily.

They only stared oddly at him, the burly fifteen-year-old boy with the armful of flowers and pink balloons.

Once he had paid for the chocolate-covered cherries, Hamilton stepped back outside. Immediately, he realized what was wrong: it was suddenly light outside! How could they sky have gone from night to morning in the mere minutes he had been inside?

This would _not_ do. Now, everybody in the whole world was going to see him! He scanned the area almost franticly.

Aha. A shortcut. If he cut through these woods, he would be just two blocks from the school building. Swiftly, he turned right and went into the trees.

Here, at least, it was still relatively shady. Hamilton picked his way through the undergrowth with speed, simultaneously ducking to avoid low-hanging branches. He glanced down at the clock on his cell phone. This was great. He was going to make it with time to spare!

_Pop_. Wait, what was that sound? Suddenly, he felt a snag in the strings of his balloons. With dread, he turned around. They had gotten tangled in the lower branches of a pine tree. And- this was bad- one had popped. _Pop_. Whoops, make that two.

Hamilton gave the strings a desperate tug. "Oh, no. You are _not_ going to do this to me now." But it was no use. _Pop_. Another pink balloon burst into smithereens against the merciless point of the pine needles. That left only four.

He tugged again, more forcefully this time. _Pop_. And he was down to three. But he felt the strings go slack. The remaining balloons had finally been pulled free. Which, again, would have been good, if more than half of them hadn't been popped in the process.

But he sighed. Three balloons were better than none, he supposed.

The rest of the trek through the woods was uneventful, which in this case was a good thing. As Hamilton emerged, he found himself standing in the glaring sunlight again, on a sidewalk adjacent to a two-lane street. He looked both ways, then crossed. Easy.

The next street was busier as he came upon it, but there was a crosswalk, and the light for the pedestrians was green. Hamilton was just approaching the road when his cell phone went off in his pocket.

He groaned. What was it now? Still walking, he opened it up. It was a text from Amy.

_Just talked to Sinead. Ned's not feeling good, so she's staying home with him today. Sorry for the short notice. Good luck, Hammer. :)_

Hamilton groaned again, louder this time, as he pocketed his phone. It was short notice, all right! Now, he might as well cut school for the day; after making the trip to Sinead's house, there was no way he would make it to school on time.

It was then that the sound of a blaring horn reached his ears.

_BAM! _The car had swerved in an attempt to avoid him, so that only the very edge clipped him, but still, it was enough to send him sprawling backward. The roses and chocolates fell out of his hands and were hit by another car in the next lane; they left a bloodlike splatter on the street.

Hamilton lay there, dazed, for a grand total of fifteen seconds before returning to his senses. And then, he sat bolt upright in alarm.

The driver of the vehicle had already come screeching to a stop and was rushing over to check on him, a cell phone pressed to one ear. "Are you all right?" the woman, perhaps in her forties, asked in a voice shrill with concern. And into the phone, she said, "He seems all right. Conscious, alert."

"I'm fine," said Hamilton, though pain was shooting through his body.

"He says he's fine," reported the woman. "But still, send someone over here. We're on Main." She crouched by his side. "I'm so sorry! You just came out of nowhere! I thought you would stop; I thought surely you would see the pedestrian sign had turned red, and…!"

"I'm fine," he said again, cutting her off. "But I can't stick around. I've got somewhere to be."

"You were hit by a _car_," said the woman, her eyes wide. "You need to get checked out."

But after the Clue Hunt, this didn't even faze him. He wasn't battered and bleeding; therefore, he needed to continue with his mission.

"No, I don't," Hamilton said. "I told you, I'm okay. But I've got to go, seriously."

And before she could argue, he stood up and bolted.

He ran all the way to Sinead's house, keeping only his objective in mind. He tried not to think about the soreness in his limbs, or what a mess he probably looked by now, or the fact that most of his gifts were now road kill. Just Sinead, and that he had planned to ask her out today, and no amount of incredible bad luck was going to deter him from that. Because even if the Holts had a reputation of being dumb, there was one thing that everyone had to respect about them: they didn't give up.

He reached the house and jogged up the driveway to the front door, still not breaking pace. And he rang the doorbell.

/

And so, here he was now: tired and sweaty and aching, with pine needles jutting out of his hair at odd angles and a chocolate-covered cherry stain, the color of blood, on his jeans. His fist still clutched the balloon strings, though there was nothing attached to them.

As Sinead answered the door, she took in his appearance in open-mouthed shock. He was waiting for her to start laughing, because after all his planning, he just looked like a wreck. But she just looked concerned.

"Hamilton, are you all right?" she exclaimed, an audible note of worry in her voice. "What happened?"

So he poured out his story: "So I got roses and balloons and chocolate, but then I took a shortcut through the woods, and the balloons popped, and then, Amy texted me, and I got hit by a car and lost the rest of my stuff, and…"

"What?" she cried. "You got hit by a car?" She groaned. "_Never_ look at your phone while you're crossing the street, Hamilton; you should know that!"

"I know, but she was telling me you were at home," he continued. "So I ran all the way here." He paused. "Okay, that's it."

"That's it?" she echoed in disbelief. "You got hit by a car, and you say 'that's it?'"

"Yeah. That's it."

Sinead hesitated for a moment, a bewildered look on her face. "But wait, I don't get it. Why were you carrying flowers, chocolate, and balloons in the first place?"

Hamilton felt his face go red, which it had already been due to exertion. "Well, um… They were for you."

"What?" she asked. Her voice got a bit softer. "Why?"

"Because Dan and Amy explained the whole 'I heart you' inequality thing, and I felt like an idiot," he explained in a rush.

It was Sinead's turn to blush. "That? That was just…"

"No. I did. So I got you all that stuff…" He paused to catch his breath, and for a moment, the entire world seemed to go silent. "…Because I was going to ask you out. Of course, now I look like a total idiot, so I'm sure you don't want to…"

Her kiss cut him off. When she pulled away, she gave him a grin that was slightly reminiscent of one of her old smirks. "Don't tell me what I want. Because whether you're pretty smart or not, it still doesn't mean you can't be wrong."

But in this case, being wrong wasn't really so bad.

**Author's Note: Awww. You have no idea how long I've waited to write that. It made me happy! :3 Anyway, this isn't the end yet, so stay tuned! Maybe I'll be slightly faster on the update this time!**

**~Lily**


	14. Reactions and Retribution

**Author's Note: Sorry it took longer than expected for me to update; my laptop died and I had to get a new one. Sorry for the wait!**

**_PLEASE READ:_ Everyone, this is the final chapter of "Tutoring a Holt." This story has been going on for well over a year now. When I began it, I was still a newcomer to this site, overwhelmed and completely nervous about posting my writing for the world to see. I was inexperienced and, in my opinion, a much worse writer than I am today.**

**I'd like to offer my thanks to everyone who's taken the time to read this story, especially everyone who has reviewed. I appreciate all of you, and hopefully, this ending won't disappoint you too much. Thank you for embarking on this ride with me. I can honestly say that this is by far the longest fanfic I've ever written, and I feel pretty proud to be finishing what I started at last. Proud, but bittersweet.**

**Anyway, thanks again for reading and reviewing, and I hope you enjoy this last chapter of "Tutoring a Holt." :)**

It was the most nerve-wracking confession _ever_ on the face of the Earth.

No, not Hamilton's confession to Sinead; his confession to his father that he was now _dating_ Sinead.

Eisenhower Holt was predictably upset. First, his face turned so red it was nearly purple, and his mouth fell open and closed and open and closed again, and he couldn't say anything. Then, he gave the whole "what in the world are you thinking; she's an Ekat; you're a Tomas; why on Earth would you want to…" speech, followed soon by the "at least your _sisters_ would never, ever do anything so absolutely, positively…" lecture, then threats to disown him.

And that was in the span of a minute.

But actually, once the shock wore off, he took it rather well. He slapped Hamilton hard on the back and said with a grin, "At least that means that we've got Ekat intel now, huh, son?" (To which Hamilton just rolled his eyes.)

Madison and Reagan taunted him for two straight hours- a perpetual loop of "Hammer's got a _giiiiirlfrieeeeend_!" and "Hammy and Sinead, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G"- but they eventually grew tired of teasing him without getting any violent reaction and went outside to play football.

And Mary-Todd Holt actually told her son, "Good for you, honey. She's a pretty girl, isn't she?" which made him grin like an idiot.

Sinead's brothers hadn't been exactly thrilled. Ned had given him the old "if you ever do anything to hurt her" speech, which Ted had finished by saying that he would sic his guide dog, Flamsteed, on him. But then, they realized that they and Hamilton shared a mutual love of computers, and thus began a new friendship. (Though they made sure that Hamilton knew that their threats still stood. Sinead was their favorite- and only- sister, after all.)

Then, there was everyone in the school, who probably figured it out the next morning when he and Sinead walked into the building together, holding hands. His football buddies teased him, and Kenzie Radcliffe looked amusingly pouty and indignant, and Mary-Anne Carlisle asked them a billion questions ("Are you two dating?" "Awww, how'd he ask you out?" "OMG, you got _hit by a car_?"). But that was actually all right.

As for their math teacher, Mr. Katswell seemed pleased and appeared to think that he was himself responsible for the new couple getting together. "If I hadn't assigned you to tutor him, Sinead," he said, "This never would have happened, you know."

Sinead had raised an eyebrow in amusement. "You're saying that this is all thanks to you?"

The teacher's eyes smiled at her over the curve of his round glasses. "Pretty much."

In all his time at the school, Hamilton Holt never would have guessed that his math teacher had any semblance of a sense of humor.

/

Sinead could not wait to share the news with her new best friend. She had tried calling Amy the previous day, just after everything had happened, but she hadn't picked up; probably on some sort of Cahill business, the Ekaterina figured.

The moment she got home, she completed her homework, then hurried to phone Amy. It took nearly three rings for her to pick up.

"Oh, hey, Sinead. Sorry I didn't answer your calls yesterday. We had some Madrigal business to take care of."

"Yeah," said Sinead, hardly suppressing a smile, "I guessed as much."

Amy heaved a sigh. "Inter-branch peace seemed so easy in theory, but in practice, it almost seems like an impossible dream."

Now, she really was grinning. "Oh, Amy, don't give up hope yet. People of different branches can learn to cooperate… which brings me to my big news."

"Wait a second…." Suddenly, her friend didn't seem nearly as unhappy. "Don't tell me- Hamilton finally asked you out."

Sinead rolled her eyes. "Of course. I forgot: in this family, everyone knows your business before even you do."

"Dan and I helped him plan it," Amy explained. There was a note of excitement in her voice. "So, tell me, how did the flowers and chocolate go over?"

"I'm not sure," said Sinead wryly. "I never saw them."

"What?"

So Sinead told Amy the entire story as Hamilton had told it to her. By the end, Amy was stunned into silence. After several seconds, she spoke.

"He got hit by a _car_?" Her voice was now high and worried. "Oh, my goodness, is he all right?"

"He's fine." Sinead laughed. "Apparently, he stood right back up, shrugged it off, and kept running."

Amy groaned. "The saddest thing is that I don't even doubt it."

"Someone _really_ should have taught him not to text while crossing the street," said Sinead.

She groaned again, this time mournfully. "_I_ texted him yesterday morning, Sinead! Was that when it happened?"

"I think so."

"Oh…" Amy paused, drawing in a deep breath. "Now, I feel awful…."

"Don't. I told you," said Sinead, "He's perfectly fine. Anyway, like I said, everything turned out fine."

She sounded mostly consoled. "I guess you're right. So, you two are an item now? Hmmm, Hamilton and Sinead… Hamead, would you call it? Or maybe Sinilton?"

It was Sinead's turn to groan. "Oh, goodness, not those cheesy portmanteaus."

"What?" said Amy sheepishly. "There are all sorts of those couple names on the Internet. They've become pretty big in the past few years."

"True." Weighty silence hung in the air for a moment. "So, Amy, Hamilton and I are heading out near your area to have dinner Friday night. I was wondering, do you want to join us?"

Amy's voice was skeptical. "I don't know. I wouldn't want to be a third wheel…."

"You wouldn't be." Even by the sound of her voice, Amy could tell that she was grinning impishly. "It would be a double date. Hamilton and me, and you and…"

"Don't say it," Amy interjected.

Sinead laughed out loud. "Clearly, I don't have to. You already seem to know what I was going to say."

"Well, of course. You've brought it up before." She paused. "But Sinead, I keep telling you, I do _not_ like Ian! In case you've forgotten, he's kind of a jerk."

"And didn't I think the same about Hamilton Holt?" she teased. "It worked out for us, did it not, Amy?"

"Oh, no. Don't tell me that you're going to start trying to give me relationship advice now. Need I remind you that you two have only been dating for one…"

"You say you want inter-branch peace, don't you, Amy?" she said wisely. "Well, what better way?"

"But I'm not sure how well that would…"

Sinead cut her off. "Come on, you helped me get together with Hamilton, right? And I would feel like such an awful friend if I wasn't allowed to return the favor."

"Sinead, I'm starting to get the feeling that you aren't even listening to a word I'm…"

"Amy," said Sinead with a grin, "You're going. That's that."

Of course she was dubious, looking for any excuse she could find in her mental book of alibis. "But, um… Dan would kill me."

"Oh, I already had Ham talk to him. He's perfectly fine with it- as long as he gets to deliver the standard overprotective brother speech, and as long as Ian agrees to owe him one," she announced smugly.

"But, uh…" Amy pondered for a moment. "Ian would never want to do that."

Sinead barked out a laugh. "Who are you kidding? Hamilton already talked to him, too. They talked over email, but he's pretty sure that Ian jumped for joy a little bit."

"If it was online, how in the world could he know whether he…?"

"Listen to me, Amy Cahill. You're coming with us on Friday night to dinner, and Ian is going to be there, and you two are going to _like_ it, understand?"

She heard Amy swallow hard. "Um… okay."

Sinead hung up the phone minutes later and shot her boyfriend a quick text. _And Mission: Return the Favor is a go. You've already talked to your contacts to ensure that everything will go according to what we planned, right, Ham?_

His reply came less than a minute later: _Right. They're all set. Heh-heh, those two are totally going to love/hate us._

It was good to be a Cahill.

**Author's Note: And again with the Amian. It's as if it just seeps out of my fingers when I'm typing this story. XD**

**Anyway, moving on, thanks again to all my loyal readers and reviewers. I sincerely appreciate your time, your kind words, and even sometimes your reminders that I needed to get off my lazy butt and _update_! I'm grateful for all of you. Love you guys! :D**

**Signing off the way I used to way back when,**

**Peace, love, and ninjas,**

**~Lily**


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